ICTs and Their Influence on Agritourism

Agritourism involves the blending of agriculture and tourism in a bid to provide amazing educational experience to clients and increase farm income through fee-based recreation. Technology has transformed the way agritourism can be conducted. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can help to improve agricultural growth by providing farmers with access to cutting-edge technologies and information. This can lead to increased productivity, sustainability and self-reliance. This chapter sought to determine the types of ICT used by farmers in agritourism, examine the benefits of using ICTs in agritourism, the challenges of implementing ICTs in agritourism and to ascertain whether there is a relationship between the use of technology and the development of agritourism. A systematic literature review of information considered relevant to the issue under investigation was carried out. Findings from the consulted literature revealed that agritourism farmers use a variety of technologies to enhance their agritourism offerings. These technologies include websites, social media, online booking systems mobile apps and chatbots. It was also noted that there are numerous opportunities that can be realized through the use of ICTs in agritourism. These include improvement of market activities by distributing tourist information, exchange of relevant information through simple SMS or Whatsapp platforms, profit gain, and networking in the agricultural sector globally among farmers, customers and suppliers. Technology is seen as a key factor in the growth of agritourism. However, there are a number of factors that can hinder the effective use of ICT in the development and growth of agritourism as an industry. The factors include high set-up costs of infrastructure, internet connectivity, digital technology literacy, cultural barriers and lack of technical know-how. Research findings indicated that there is a positive correlation between technology usage and development of agritourism. From the research findings it can be concluded that amalgamation of cutting-edge technology in agritourism could open up ways and means to solve socio-economic challenges in society and boost revenue generation. The chapter ends with recommending guidelines on how ICTs can be fully adopted in agritourism and how ICT implementation can help to overcome some of the challenges that hinder the growth of agritourism.