Defining agritourism: A comparative study of stakeholders’ perceptions in Missouri and North Carolina Claudia Gil Arroyo a , Carla Barbieri b, * , Samantha Rozier Rich c a Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, University of Missouri, USA b Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management, North Carolina State University, Campus Box 8004, 3028D Biltmore Hall, Raleigh, NC 27695-8004, USA c enRiched Consulting, LLC, Houston, TX, USA highlights < Examination of the meaning of agritourism across key stakeholders. < “Agricultural setting”, “entertainment”, “farm” and “education” are key elements. < Agritourism include staged or authentic agricultural activities. < Activities offered in non-working farms were rejected as agritourism. < Agricultural settings used for background purposes were rejected as agritourism. article info Article history: Received 13 June 2012 Accepted 9 December 2012 Keywords: Agritourism Definition Extension Farmer Resident abstract Agritourism is not a recent phenomenon; furthermore, it has considerably increased in the past ten years and is projected to continue growing in the future. Despite such growth, there is not a shared under- standing of agritourism which is problematic as this creates confusion and lessens its appeal among consumers, further hindering communication and collaboration among stakeholders. Therefore, a study was conducted in 2011 to identify preferred definitional elements and types of agritourism activities across residents, farmers, and extension faculty in Missouri and North Carolina (U.S.). Results showed that “agricultural setting”, “entertainment”, “farm”, and “education” should be included in a good defi- nition of agritourism. Respondents also agreed that agritourism includes staged or authentic activities carried out on working agricultural facilities. All stakeholder groups rejected to consider activities offered in non-working farms or where the agricultural setting only serves for background purposes as agri- tourism. Statistical tests showed significant differences on agritourism definitional elements and types across groups, results that are further discussed. Besides advancing the understanding of the meaning of agritourism, this study carries important implications for the practice of agritourism. Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Agritourism is not a new phenomenon, it has been recognized world-wide since the early twentieth century (Busby & Rendle, 2000; McKenzie & Wysocki, 2002; Wicks & Merrett, 2003). A set of policies establishing specific guidelines, obligations, and in- centives to assist and encourage farmers to diversify their entre- preneurial portfolio through tourism and hospitality services fostered the development of agritourism (Che, Veeck, & Veeck, 2005; Hegarty & Przezborska, 2005; Kizos & Iosifides, 2007; Sonnino, 2004). For example, farmers from countries that are members of the European Union (E.U.) can access the LEADER program that offers grants for the promotion of rural development (Caballe, 1999; Cawley & Gillmor, 2008; European Court of Auditors, 2010, p. 100). In spite of lesser government support, agritourism has also emerged as an alternative economic activity among farmers in the United States of America (U.S.), although their occurrence is not evenly distributed throughout the country. For example, the state of Texas, largely known for its dude ranches, accounts for 23% of all farms that generate revenues from agritourism, followed by Kansas and Montana with less than 5% (USDA: NASS, 2007 , p. 639). Agritourism has rapidly increased in the U.S. during the past ten years with the number of farms making at least $25,000 from agritourism activities growing approximately 90% between 2002 * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ1 919 513 0351; fax: þ1 919 515 3687. E-mail addresses: cgilarroyo@gmail.com (C. Gil Arroyo), Carla_Barbieri@ ncsu.edu (C. Barbieri), Samantha.Rich@enrichedconsultingllc.com (S. Rozier Rich). Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Tourism Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tourman 0261-5177/$ e see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2012.12.007 Tourism Management 37 (2013) 39e47