Importance Of Agrotourism For Sustainable Economic Development Of Baranja

Rural tourism is an important backbone of the current and future socio-economic development of the Osijek-Baranja County, and one of its forms is the agrotourism which is increasingly in the focus of farms. The basis for its development is reflected in the richness of the rural landscape, healthy ecological and climate conditions, diverse cultural heritage and interest as well as hospitality of the rural population. Introduction of agrotourism on farms extends primary agricultural activity to meals and accommodation services and also to a variety of other contents such as participation in agricultural activities, direct contact with farm animals, involvement in the life of the host, etc, so thus farmers can ensure a better placement of their own products and consequently increase their income. Although agrotourism is not present in massive scale it is still one of the ways that young people remain within their family farms thus contributing to sustainable development of rural areas. The paper presents results of a study conducted in Baranja in order to analyze the current agrotourism supply, level of education of people involved in rural economies, levels of marketing activities aimed at attracting guests and interconnectivity with other agrotouristic entitiesy and key development institutions. Also, the access to financing and co-financing growth and development of businesses has been analyzed, as well as the vision of the future development of farms in the field of agrotourism. The paper aims to show the growing importance of the tourism offer in rural farms in terms of growth and sustainable development of the economy in region Baranja.