Agritourism, farm income differentiation, and rural development: The case of the region of montiferru (italy)

The faster increasing of agritourism in the European countries leads to thinking this form of farm diversification as a valid instrument to enhance the rural areas. Numerous personal and social motivations lead the choice of starting an agritourism. However, the agritourism should be understood as firm and must be able to be profitable in the long-term and pay the work of the farmer and his family. This is the necessary condition to allow agritourism contributing to rural development and enable farmers to enjoy their rural lifestyle. Using Serpieri’s model (1950), the paper aims to assess the ability of agritourism activities to improve the income of multifunctional farms operating in a rural area of Sardinia (Italy). This research contributes to the debate on agritourism role and aims, outlines the implications for practitioners, academics and policymakers, and makes recommendations for future research.