Sustainable Tourism a Perspective for Rural Areas

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Sustainable Tourism - a Perspective for Rural
Areas?
Betina Meliss University of Greifswald GERMANY
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• Overview
• Definitions
• Advantages (Opportunities)
• Demands and Requirements
• Country and Farm Tourism Demand - the example of
  Germany
• Success Factors of Country and Farm Tourism in
  Europe
• Difficulties
• Conclusions and Outlook

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Background
Agriculture
Tourism
major structural changes
tourism as a growing branch
decreasing income and employment
Tourism needs a lot of people to work
sufficient labour

nice nature
Lets develop tourism !!
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abundance of terms
Rural Tourism
Sustainable Tourism
Country Holidays
Farm Tourism
Soft Tourism
Ecotourism
Agrotourism
Nature Tourism
. . .
Nature Based Tourism
. . .
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Sustainable tourism development meets the needs
of present tourists and hostregions while
protecting and enhancing opportunities for the
future. It is envisaged as leading to
management of all resources in such a way that
ecenomic, social and aesthetic needs can be
fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity,
essential ecological processes, biological
diversity and life support systems.
Definition
www.world-tourism.org 2004
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sustainable tourism
ecotourism
farm tourism
nature tourism
rural tourism
( country holidays )
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Overview Necessary Tourism Offers
Human potential (culture, traditions,
Employees)
Tourism infrastructure / entertainment (Accomodati
on, restaurants, offers for leasure time,
events)
Basic infrastructure (Transportation,
communication, Trade, ressource management)
Natural conditions (Position, Landscapes,
Climate)
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Country and Farm Tourism Demand - the example of
Germany
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Country/Farm Holidaydemand of Germans
Experience with farm/country tourism in the last
3 years
million
Source Reiseanalyse 2006 Basis farm/country
holiday travellers 2003-2005
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Country/Farm HolidayPotential of Germans
Certainly planning or generally considering a
farm/country holiday in the next 3 years in
million.
million
Source Reiseanalyse 2006 Basis Basis German
population 14 years
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Country/Farm Holiday Travellers demand of
Germans

• Education
• average level of education

• Age
• younger than the average German(43.9 y. vs.
  Ø47.4 y.)
• stronger in the agegroups 14-49 y.
• not so strong with the50 y.

• Income
• a little below the German average

• Federal States
• particularly strong in Bavaria and Eastern
  Germany
• comparatively weak in the West of Germany

Country/Farm Travellers

• Stages of Life
• particularly strong with families

• Internet
• 65 with internet access (Ø 55)
• 53 looked for travel information (Ø 38)
• 30 used it for travel bookings (Ø 17)

Source Reiseanalyse 2006 Basis farm/country
holiday travellers 2003-2005
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Country/Farm Holidaysof Germans

• Seasonality
• 55 Summer
• 19 each Spring/autumn

• Main/Additional Trip
• 79 main holiday trips
• 21 additional holiday trips

• Duration
• 11.7 days (Ø 12.5)

• Expenditure
• 575 p.p. (Ø 833)

Country/ Farm Holidays

• Travel Party
• 43 3 persons
• 41 with children up to 14 y.

• Organisation
• 38 accommodation separately
• 34 package/module
• 21 no pre-bookings

• Transport
• 75 Car
• 10 Rail
• 8 Air

• Accommodation
• 48 holiday apartment/home

Source Reiseanalyse 2006 Basis farm/country
holiday travellers 2005
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Country/Farm Holidays Type of Holiday of Germans
Source Reiseanalyse 2006 Basis farm/country
holiday travellers 2005
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Expectations towards the regions
Offers that should be avaliable in the holiday
region of the farm holiday
Source Reiseanalyse RA 2004
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Information material/channels
Information material at the holiday farm
essential for the guests information needs
Source Reiseanalyse RA 2004
Source Reiseanalyse RA 2004
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European Dimension of Rural TourismEstimations
by EuroGites

• 200.000 accommodation units
• above 2.000.000 beds
• Direct and indirect jobs are estimated in 500.000
  
• direct tourist spending of about 12.000 million
  EUR
• overall impact of Rural Tourism in the European
  Countryside is likely to exceed 65.000 million
  EUR

European Federation of Farm and Village Tourism /
EuroGites, Klaus Ehrlich, 2005
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7 Pre-conditions for a successful development of
agrotourism (after Bernard Lane/University of
Bristol/GB)

• Attractive landscape and rich cultural heritage
• Easy accessibility from the source markets
• Small and medium farms with interest in
  diversification
• Farms owned by the farmers
• Farms in relatively wealthy regions i.e.
  farmhouses are well equipped room for
  accommodating visitors available
• Local/regional tourism organisations for
  marketing and infrastructure
• Hospitality resp. tradition in hosting guests

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Steps for a successful future

• clear definition of the product profile, based on
  consumer demand
• clear definition and guarantees for minimum
  standards
• support networking between existing organisations
• improve the common use, presentation, and sales
  through ITC platforms
• improve the professional qualification of
  providers to a common level
• lobby for a more equal legal and tax framework
  that allows fair competition in a Europe-wide
  market

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Elements of a successful agritourism strategy

• Organisation and cooperation
• Training, consultancy and information
• Branding
• Quality
• Theming, special interest
• Marketing

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Outlook

• Positive future perspectives for tourism in
  Europe
• Changing consumer in general, with high
  relevance for farm tourism,
• Farm/country tourism in Germany with a stable
  position, yet with decline in demand and
  potential
• Hard work to attract people to farm tourism in
  the worldwide tourism offer
• Possibilities for successful farm tourism in the
  future with consumer orientated products and
  marketing!
• NEED TO KNOW THE CONSUMER!!!

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TOURISM - can rescue single farmers from
dropping out,- can give several farmes a solid
additional income source,? can cause a (slow)
structural change within the branch of
agriculture,? can be a means to mitigate
structural problems of rural areas.ThusTOURISM
can be a successful sustainable development
option .. but not in general, not every time and
not in every case.
Conclusions
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Thanks for your kind attention.