Diversification of Offerings and Visitor Attractions in Agritourism Operations of Maryland, USA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54536/ijsrd.v3i1.7030Keywords:
Agritourism, Attraction, Diversification, Role, VisitorsAbstract
Agritourism operations diversify farms by offering various attractions such as education, recreation, entertainment, active involvement, and direct product sales to visitors with the goal of boosting profitability. Several studies have examined factors attracting visitors to tourism destinations. However, limited evidence is available on agritourism, and it is not clear what operations attract more vs. fewer visitors. Expanding the findings from our previous paper, this paper empirically investigates the influence of diversification of offerings in attracting visitors to agritourism destinations. We used the survey data (n=79) collected from Maryland in 2022. Adjusting for other confounders, the results from the multivariate analysis revealed that the diversity of attractions significantly increased visits to the farm. Evidence suggested that wineries and breweries were less diversified as compared to operations that offered other opportunities such as those that sold produce directly to visitors through farm stores/stands, organized festivals, farm animal display, hayride/maze, and u-pick to visitors. These findings are important to policymakers and Extension educators that support promote agritourism operators to enhance profitability by attracting visitors for the economic viability and sustainability.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Prem Bhandari, Kingsley Ejiogu, Lila Karki, E. N. Escobar, Moses T. Kairo
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