WHERE MILK COMES FROM EXPLORING THE MOTIVATIONS OF FARM TOURISTS Loes Wijnen WHERE MILK COMES FROM EXPLORING THE MOTIVATIONS OF FARM TOURISTS Loes Wijnen 830316-978010 May 2011 MSc Thesis Leisure, Tourism & Environment SAL-80433 Wageningen University Chairgroup Social-spatial Analysis Supervisor: Dr. H.J. de Haan Examiners: Dr. J.H. de Haan and Drs. Ir. K.B.M. Peters Preface After several years of studying, the final thesis was my last big challenge in university. Because all these years I had to do assignments that someone else created for me, I grabbed this final chance to study something that interests me personally. So, I decided to study camping on the farm. This topic has raised many smiles, but it is something that really interests me. I am curious about handicrafts and artisanal activities like growing your own food, cooking your own meals with unprocessed ingredients, making wool, knitting your own scarves and so on. The farm camping site seems like an environment that could attract people with such interests. I was wondering if that is why people visit farms. Although the idea of studying people who camp at the farm seems pleasant, reality was sometimes a bit more difficult. Weeks were spent searching books and papers, reading them through and discovering that only 5% of the results were useful. Sunny days had to be spent indoors to transcribe countless interviews. It has to be said that when I had to choose between the sun and the thesis, the sun has often won. A slight delay in finishing this thesis has been the result. But in the end I am satisfied with the result. Despite the difficulties I have enjoyed finding interesting information, talking with all sorts of people on the camping sites and finally organizing everything in a coherent report. Most importantly, I am glad my curiosity about camping on the farm is satisfied. This thesis would never have been written without the help of the farmers and respondents. Furthermore, the support and advice of my supervisor Henk de Haan, my parents, my boyfriend and my friends has been extremely helpful. I would like to thank you all! I wish you much joy reading this thesis. Loes Wijnen Amsterdam, April 2011 i Abstract After the second world war, many changes have taken place on the countryside in West European countries. In order to keep the countryside viable, it is often suggested farm tourism can be helpful. The combination of giving farmers extra income, maintaining the cultural and natural heritage of the countryside and providing tourists a nice holiday seems perfect. However, in reality little income is generated through farm tourism. To improve this, it is useful to understand the motivations of farm tourists. Motivations can be divided in push and pull factors. In this study the focus lay on what pulls tourists to the farm. Previous studies in farm tourism motivations indicated that the image of the rural idyll may be important. Another motivation could be that tourists do not want to visit mainstream tourism accommodations and therefore choose farms as a form of alternative tourism. To study the motivations, 32 semi-structured interviews were conducted with visitors of farm camping sites. The interviews were held in three predominantly rural area‘s in the Netherlands: Friesland, Zeeland and Gelderland. The results showed that the respondents usually preferred the countryside over the city. They are attracted by the pretty image of the countryside and the farm, but to say they romanticize the countryside would be somewhat exaggerated. The image these respondents have of the countryside is very positive, but usually quite realistic. Some of the tourists do have nostalgic reasons to visit the farm, although this is not always a motivation they are consciously aware of. Some of the respondents reported they disliked mainstream tourism accommodations. They had chosen the farm because it is more quiet, more relaxed and gave them more freedom. Indeed, they did choose the farm as an alternative to mainstream tourism. Other factors, like the recommendations of friends and the cheap character of the farm also played a role. More generally, the search for pleasure, the escape from the daily routines and spending time with family and friends were important motivations. Educational motivations and prestige hardly played a role. In general it can be said that these farm tourists are looking for freedom, independence and space. These are exactly the values associated with the farm. Modernization of the farm may attract new visitors, but it may also scare away the old ones. For farmers with tourism facilities, it is mostly important not to restrict the space and freedom on the farm camping site. ii Samenvatting Na de tweede wereldoorlog hebben veel veranderingen plaatsgevonden op het platteland van West Europese landen. Om het platteland leefbaar te houden is boerderijtoerisme vaak als oplossing gesuggereerd. De combinatie van extra inkomen voor de boeren, het behoud van natuurlijk en cultureel erfgoed, en een prettige vakantie voor toeristen lijkt ideaal. In de praktijk brengt boerderijtoerisme echter vaak weinig op. Om dit te verbeteren is het nuttig te weten wat de motivaties van boerderijtoeristen zijn. Motivaties kunnen worden verdeeld in push en pull factoren. In dit onderzoek lag de nadruk op wat de toeristen naar de boerderij trekt. Uit eerder onderzoek naar motivaties in boerderijtoerisme bleek dat het beeld van de rurale idylle belangrijk zou kunnen zijn. Een andere mogelijke motivatie is dat toeristen niet naar mainstream accommodaties willen en daarom kiezen voor de boerderij als vorm van alternatief toerisme. Om deze motivaties te onderzoeken zijn 32 semi-gestructureerde interviews gehouden met bezoekers van boerderijcampings. Deze interviews werden gehouden in drie voornamelijk landelijke regio‘s in Nederland: Friesland, Zeeland en Gelderland. De resultaten toonden dat de respondenten een duidelijke voorkeur hadden voor het platteland ten opzichte van de stad. Ze worden aangetrokken door het mooie plaatje van het platteland en de boerderij, maar de mate van romantisering van het platteland lijkt mee te vallen. Het beeld dat de respondenten hebben van het platteland is erg positief, maar meestal wel realistisch. Voor sommigen spelen nostalgische gevoelens mee in het besluit te komen, hoewel dat niet altijd een bewuste motivatie is. Een aantal respondenten zeiden dat ze niet naar mainstream accommodaties wilden. Ze kozen juist voor de boerderij vanwege de rust en de vrijheid die het hen geeft. Zodoende is boerderijtoerisme voor sommigen een vorm van alternatief toerisme. Andere factoren, zoals de aanbevelingen van vrienden en het goedkope karakter van de boerderij speelden ook een rol. Meer in het algemeen waren het zoeken naar plezier, het tijdelijk ontsnappen aan de sleur van de dag en tijd doorbrengen met vrienden en familie belangrijke motivaties. Educatie en prestige speelden nauwelijks een rol. In het algemeen kan gesteld worden dat deze boerderijgasten op zoek zijn naar vrijheid, onafhankelijkheid en ruimte. Dit zijn precies de waarden die geassocieerd worden met de boerderij. Modernisering van de camping kan nieuwe gasten trekken maar oude gasten wegjagen. Het is voor de boeren vooral belangrijk ruimte en vrijheid niet te beperken en wellicht te vergroten. iii Index Preface .................................................................................................................................. i Abstract ................................................................................................................................ ii Samenvatting ...................................................................................................................... iii 1. Introducing farm tourism 1.1 Introduction.................................................................................................................... 5 The rural ..................................................................................................................... 5 Rurality in the Netherlands......................................................................................... 7 1.2 Rural developments in the past decades ...................................................................... 9 1.3 What is farm tourism? ................................................................................................ 11 1.4 Farm tourism as a panacea ........................................................................................ 13 1.5 Farm tourism in practice ............................................................................................. 14 Farm tourism in the Netherlands ............................................................................ 17 1.6 Improving farm tourism .............................................................................................. 19 1.7 Farm tourism demand ................................................................................................ 20 1.8 Problem statement and research question ................................................................ 21 1.9 Aims and relevance .................................................................................................... 21 Practical relevance .................................................................................................. 22 Academic relevance ................................................................................................ 22 2. Theoretical background 2.1 Introduction................................................................................................................