An agriculturally based firm that brings visitors to a farm or ranch. Agritourism has different definitions in different parts of the world, and sometimes refers specifically to farm stays, as in Italy. Elsewhere, agritourism includes a wide variety of activities, including buying produce direct from a farm stand, navigating a corn maze, slopping hogs, picking fruit, feeding animals, or staying at a bed and breakfast (B&B) on a farm.
Published in Chapter:
Influence of the Website Features on Tourists' Choices: A Study on Agritourism Customers
Fabio Musso (Carlo Bo University of Urbino, Italy) and Margherita Angioni (Carlo Bo University of Urbino, Italy)
Copyright: © 2021
|Pages: 21
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-2731-3.ch006
Abstract
This study aims at analyzing the level of perceived relevance and satisfaction of customers on the websites of agritourism companies. After a literature review on the website adoption by small and medium-sized enterprises, an empirical research was conducted based on a four-stage model of website adoption. A web-based questionnaire was addressed to a sample of EU tourists who experienced a stay at an agritourism after selecting the accommodation through the agritourism website. By combining the perceived satisfaction and importance attributed to a series of features related to the website, the authors identified the main priorities to be considered when a website is being projected and on-line services have to be established. Moreover, for evaluating which variables have more influence in defining the overall evaluation of a website, a multiple linear regression analysis was conducted. This study provides useful indications at the individual firm level about the main features of a website on which investments for improvement may be addressed and which on-line services should be activated.