Determinants of the farmers’ willingness to participate in rural tourism in Pakistan

Abstract

Low agricultural productivity, low profit, and lower standard of living of agricultural population has caused many problems om rural as well as urban areas. Eradication of rural poverty and improving rural standard of living is challenge for many countries in the world. Rural tourism has been introduced in many regions of the world to diversify income sources of rural people and preserve rural culture. This study aimed to investigate willingness of Pakistani farmers to start rural tourism. Data was collected from 100 farmers with the help of a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire. Chi-square / fisher’s exact test was sued to analyse the relationship between explanatory variables and willingness of the farmers. Results showed that age, education, income, land holding, distance from district headquarter, and farmers’ participation in social activities has significant impact on willingness. Young and educated farmers with higher annual income and landholdings and living near to city are more inclined to start rural tourism. Social behaviour of the farmers also plays very important role in decision about starting rural tourism.