Agritourism for Rural Development in Italy, Evolution, Situation and Perspectives

This paper deals with agritourism in Italy and it is based on several recent studies, unpublished papers and statistics. Italy has a long and diversified experience in the agritourism sector, which since 1985 has been formally recognized with a national legislation, accompanied by regional laws. Agritourism has represented one of the main drivers for on farm diversification and has contributed to the economic development and wellbeing of rural areas, by attracting millions of tourists into parts of the country which were ignored even by Italians. The offer is very diverse, ranging from small and simple family farms to luxurious estates, with services of the highest quality. In 2010, with 19,973 operators and about 200,000 beds available, there were more than two million guests, out of which 50% foreigners, who spent on the farm an average of 4.5 nights. Agritourism operators have net farm incomes and returns to family labour higher than the normal farmers, but some worries are there, because the utilization rate of the rooms – the major indicator for the tourism industry, in 2011 and 2012 was the lowest when compared to other categories of operators. Suggestions are consequently advanced, such as more professionalism, better market segmentation, diversified and integrated offers through travel operators, regional marketing, and national categorization of the agritourism farms, based on quality parameters.