Development of Leisure Farms in Taiwan, and Perceptions of Visitors Thereto
Title:
Development of Leisure Farms in Taiwan, and Perceptions of Visitors Thereto
Author:
Chang, Tzu-Ching
Appeared in:
Journal of travel & tourism marketing
Paging:
Volume 15 (2003) nr. 1 pages 19-40
Year:
2003-11-20
Contents:
In Taiwan the importance of agriculture is decreasing, compared to other industries. This change worsened in 2002 after Taiwan joined the World Trade Organization (WTO). Due to the increase in National Income and the implementation of the five-day workweek, the tourist population is growing. Beginning in 1989, the Council of Agriculture of Taiwan selected 31 rural areas in which to develop leisure farms for the purpose of creating and promoting agricultural tourism and to help sustain agriculture. This is intended to be achieved by utilizing their natural beauty, by promoting awareness of their ecology and by understanding their environmental resources. Agricultural tourism could generate income, create jobs and encourage retail growth. The purpose of this paper is: (1) to better understand the development of leisure farms in Taiwan, (2) to describe leisure farm visitors in terms of their demographic and socio-economic characteristics and knowledge about leisure farms, (3) to profile the leisure farm visitors by the number of visits, (4) to measure levels of visitor satisfactions with leisure farm performance, and (5) to identify the main factors of products and services for the leisure farms. The results clearly identify the characteristics of leisure farm tourists, demonstrate the problems of insufficient knowledge about agricultural tourism and leisure farming, and conclude with six important factors for product and service strategies.
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