Assessing the Rural Lodges and Stakeholders’ Perceptions for Agritourism

Abstract

Al-Ahsa is well positioned to offer a competitive agritourism given its rich agricultural heritage as characterized by being one of the largest oases in the world where millions of palm trees are exist. This article explored the issues and challenges of developing agritourism in Al-Ahsa. The results of an empirical questionnaire survey indicated the importance of swimming pools, kids' area, lodge building , location, and cultivated area and the prevalence of dissatisfaction with the roads condition and rental value of the farm. 70% of respondents believe that the rural lodges lack more facilities and 74% believe their construction needs more regulation. The predominant category of farm rental duration was 12 hours and the average rental value was 1,000 riyals. The Correlation Matrix showed that the farm visit frequency is positively related to family size, age, gender, education, and income and inversely related to daily rent and profession. Determinants of demand are income, farm rent, and the profession and the demand is price and income inelastic. The study emphasized the importance of developing agritourism in a sustainable way considering the economic and social aspects and not negatively affecting the environment and green areas so that the oasis retains its unique nature.