Profiling Potential Agritourists in Gauteng, South Africa

Agritourism involves tourists visiting farms. This type of tourism can alleviate poverty and promote rural development in both developed and developing countries. Agritourism research has focused mainly on understanding agritourism from the supplier’s side and the development of agritourism, which leaves the demand perspective relatively under-researched. Globally, it was established that research needs to be more demand driven, and this is just as relevant in South Africa. The aim of this article is to profile potential agritourists in the province of Gauteng, South Africa. A cross-sectional online survey was used to collect primary data for this empirical study. An online panel of the Bureau of Market Research (BMR) of the University of South Africa (Unisa) was used to collect data. Survey participation was based on a census approach. All 3924 members of the BMR’s database were invited to participate in the survey. The descriptive statistics provided biographic information on potential agritourists and their agri-environmental literacy, psychological capital and behavioural intention and highlighted the important agritourism attributes of the respondents when they choose to visit a farm or participate in agritourism activities. The descriptive results revealed relevant information that could help agritourism service providers in South Africa develop sustainable agritourism products on their farms.