Exploring the social interest in agritourism among the urban population of Kazakhstan

Abstract

The article examines the issues surrounding tourist activity and social interest in agritourism among residents of the main cities in Kazakhstan. Based on the survey results among a group of n = 577 respondents, the article inspected the extent of their participation in rural tourism, including agritourism, as well as their preferences and expectations regarding the type and extent of services offered on tourist farms. Research results show that the interest of city residents in using agritourism farm services is limited despite of a generally positive attitude towards rural tourism. Potential tourists’ expectations of agritourism farm services focus primarily on the quality of accommodations and the sanitary conditions present in the facilities providing them. Domestic tourists especially expect to be able to take advantage of natural products with medicinal and cosmetic properties. They view active forms of leisure as a mere supplement. The respondents’ opinions and assessments can determine the ways agritourism farms adapt to this clientele as well as impact organisational decisions and strategic planning of rural tourism in the country.

Political and Historical Determinants of the Differentiation of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems of Agritourism in Poland and Kazakhstan

“…The postulate of agritourism development is a constant theme in Kazakh literature [5,6,8,91,104]. However, as the research results show, any real changes do not follow numerous publications and postulates.…”

“…According to the analysis, the weak development of agritourism is influenced by the different preferences of the urban population and the rural population, who are poorly interested in agritourism [90]. In turn, Shaken et al (2020) in their research results emphasise the high expectations of potential customers in terms of the quality of accommodation, sanitary conditions, as well as different expectations of agritourists in terms of the offer of farms [8]. It seems that some potential guests of agritourism farms confuse agritourism with ecotourism, which is confirmed by the results of the study, but also expect a product typical for spa tourism.…”

“…In the research and development of the material, the following methods were used: desk research, which is a result of three groups of methods, namely content analysis, statistical data analysis, and historical-comparative analysis (literature), and the observation method. In this regard, at the outset, a literature study was carried out on the theoretical approach to the EE [18][19][20][21][22]; literature on agritourism [6,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15], applicable legal acts, and data presenting geographical, economic, and social conditions and the degree of development of tourism and agritourism in the selected regions of Kazakhstan [3][4][5] and Poland [14,47] were also used. The paper also draws on the authors' own observations during one-month study stays in the North Kazakhstan region and the West Pomeranian region (2018,2019) and the authors' in situ research.…”

“…To date, apart from single works at the level of the region or selected aspects of tourism [90][91][92][93][94], there has been no full-scale research in this field. There are only initiative projects in some regions [4,5,8,15,28,33], which are not able to set directions for the development of this promising type of tourism.…”

“…Compared to other post-Soviet countries, tourism in Kazakhstan is just beginning to develop [1][2][3]. Agritourism, despite the relatively extensive literature on the subject, is still at the initial development stage [4][5][6][7][8]. The situation of agritourism development in Poland is entirely different.…”