Title: Farmers as entrepreneurs: the case of farm-based tourism

Authors: Marit S. Haugen, Jostein Vik

Addresses: Centre for Rural Research, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway. ' Centre for Rural Research, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway

Abstract: Recent trends indicate that more farmers will diversify their activities, leading to |pluriactivity|. Farmers that develop their farming enterprise by building tourism businesses based upon the resources of the farm can be seen as farm entrepreneurs who are entering the service sector. Based on a representative statistical data set from a survey conducted in 2006, where 1677 farmers responded to a broad set of questions, this paper identifies the characteristics of farm-based tourism and farmers as tourism entrepreneurs. Furthermore, this paper explores the impact of the additional activities associated with farm-based tourism for both the farm economy and the work situation for the farm household. The data set presents a unique opportunity to combine sociocultural data with data on alternative farm economic activities in the form of tourism.

Keywords: farm-based tourism; pluriactivity; farm entrepreneurs; farm diversification; portfolio entrepreneurship; farming enterprises; sociocultural data; farm economics.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2008.019130

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2008 Vol.6 No.3, pp.321 - 336

Published online: 30 Jun 2008 *

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