Modeling Agritourism Entrepreneurship
What Europe and Oceania Can Learn from Each Other
What does an agritourism entrepreneur look like today? What motivates people to develop agritourism activities, what challenges do they face, and which skills do they need to make their businesses sustainable? These questions are at the heart of the AGRI-TOUR research activities. Following the joint research carried out across Europe and the Pacific, the project has reached an important scientific milestone: the results have been published in the peer-reviewed journal Societies. The article, “Modeling Agritourism Entrepreneurship: A Comparative Analysis of Operational Profiles, Constraints, and Capacity Gaps Across Europe and Oceania,” provides a comparative analysis of agritourism entrepreneurship across two very different regional contexts. Published on 28 September 2026, the study brings together researchers from AGRI-TOUR partner institutions in Europe, Fiji, Samoa and Vanuatu.
Looking at agritourism from the operators’ perspective
Much of the existing discussion on rural and agritourism focuses on tourists: what they expect, why they travel, and what kinds of experiences they seek. This research shifts attention to the supply side — the people who create and operate agritourism experiences. Using a sequential mixed-methods approach across Europe and Oceania, the study explores who agritourism entrepreneurs are, how their businesses operate, what motivates them, which constraints they encounter, and where important capacity and training gaps remain. This perspective is particularly important because agritourism requires entrepreneurs to combine skills from several different fields. Farmers and rural operators increasingly need to integrate agricultural knowledge with hospitality, education, recreation, direct product sales, marketing, digital communication and environmental management.
Two regions, two different agritourism models
One of the key findings of the study is that agritourism entrepreneurship does not follow a single universal model. The research identifies two contrasting configurations.
Europe: An Institutionalized Mature Model
European agritourism operates within a relatively mature and institutionalised environment. It is strongly connected with established markets, public policies, rural development mechanisms and territorial quality systems. European farms have progressively expanded beyond agricultural production towards multifunctional activities including hospitality, gastronomy and other visitor experiences. Public frameworks such as the Common Agricultural Policy and LEADER have also contributed to this development. At the same time, maturity creates its own challenges. The study highlights issues connected with an ageing operator population and generational succession, while identifying the need for more specialised competencies in areas such as environmental and social agriculture.
Oceania: A Decentralized Identity Frontier
The Oceanian model presents a very different picture. The research identifies a younger and strongly female-represented entrepreneurial environment, where agritourism is closely connected with cultural identity, local resilience and the realities of Small Island Developing States. Unlike the more institutionalised European environment, operators in Oceania often work with limited policy support while facing significant exposure to climate variability and economic vulnerability. Agritourism can therefore play an important role in diversifying rural and island economies while creating new opportunities to valorise agriculture, traditional food systems and local cultural practices.
Different contexts create different capacity gaps
The comparison also shows why training programmes cannot simply transfer one regional model to another. In Europe, the study identifies a need for advanced and specialised competencies, particularly in environmental and social dimensions of agriculture. In Oceania, the most pressing gaps are more foundational and business-oriented. They include financial risk management, regulatory compliance and direct-to-consumer digital infrastructure. These differences are highly relevant for AGRI-TOUR. They demonstrate that strengthening agritourism in Pacific Island Countries requires training that responds to the actual operating environment of local entrepreneurs instead of simply reproducing European approaches.
Agritourism as a bridge between agriculture and the experience economy
Across both regions, however, one common pattern emerges. Modern agritourism entrepreneurs operate at the intersection of agriculture and tourism. They must transform agricultural resources, landscapes, food, knowledge and cultural heritage into meaningful visitor experiences while maintaining viable businesses. This creates a hybrid professional profile combining agriculture with hospitality, recreation, education, entertainment and direct product sales. Digital visibility and demonstrable environmental responsibility are also becoming increasingly important for remaining competitive in the contemporary experience economy. The challenge is therefore not simply to create more agritourism businesses, but to provide operators with the skills, knowledge and institutional environment needed to develop them sustainably.
From research to AGRI-TOUR action
The publication represents an important scientific output of the AGRI-TOUR research conducted under D2.2 – Scientific Research on the Empowerment of Agritourism in the Pacific Ocean. Its findings also provide an evidence base for the next stages of the project. The capacity gaps identified through the research can inform the development of educational content, digital learning activities and practical training pathways within AGRI-TOUR. In this way, the research creates a direct connection between scientific evidence, education and practice: understanding the realities of agritourism entrepreneurs helps the project develop learning opportunities that respond to the actual needs of rural and island communities.
Scientific publication
Fontefrancesco, M. F., Pili, M., Kader, M. A., Gabriel, T. I., Lako, J., Palkova, Z., Singh, G., Imo-Seuoti, T., Ubaub, L. T., Vandeputte, L., Vitale, I. V., & Zitnak, M. (2026). Modeling Agritourism Entrepreneurship: A Comparative Analysis of Operational Profiles, Constraints, and Capacity Gaps Across Europe and Oceania.
Societies, 16, 311. DOI: 10.3390/soc16100311
