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17
dr Arkadiusz Niedziolka ©
University of Agriculture in Cracow, Poland The Faculty of Agriculture and Economics Unit of Sociology and Rural Development 31 - 120 Krakow, Al. Mickiewicza 21. Poland.
AGRITOURISM SERVICES AS THE IMPORTANT FACTOR OF AGRITOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN POLAND
Abstract: In the article the author presents different recreational services, both active and passive as a very important factor of a agritourism development. It's obvious that out of accommodation and food guests need to spend their leisure time in any interesting way. On account of this reality owners of agritourism farms have to provide it by offering different forms of recreation. They offer making bonfire, grill, summer house, garden furniture, and so on and so forth. Besides, farmers rent sport equipments, offer horse riding, assistance in work in the field. All these activities are organized within the territory offarm. Farmers sometimes organize different form of recreation out of this territory, too. They take their guest for mushroom picking, for bicycle riding, walking, admiring interesting monuments like churches, cemeteries, castles, roadside shrines, etc.
Key words: agritourism, recreation, recreation services, equipment, leisure time
Introduction
Agritourism is the form of rural tourism. It is organized by rural family and treated as an additional income, out of essential income from agriculture production. It's a very popular form of spending free time in Poland because of many important features. One can mention about: rural areas, clean environment, beautiful tourism values, both nature and cultural values, contact with rural life, acquaintance with customs in a village, with agriculture production. Interesting historic and cultural heritage is worth mentioning, too.
In agritourism there are two classic forms of services. The first one are basic services. Among them there are accommodation services, food services and transport services. The second one are connected with different activities which are complementary to basic services. In this sphere there are many different recreational services which are directed at tourists. These services fulfill tourists' leisure time. They can be offered in the territory of agritourism farm and outside, too.
Task, the aim of the article
The aim of the article is the presence different recreation services which can be offered by farmers running agritourism farms. That's why the author presents different forms of recreation, both in theoretical part of the article and in the empirical one. In the second part results of researches conducted in 365 agritourism farms in Malopolska Voivodeship are shown. The reseraches were conducted by means of questionnaire. Direct interview with these farms' owner was the method of research.
© Arkadiusz Niedziolka, 2009
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The researches were conducted with a view to getting know different forms of recreational services offered by examined farmers.
The essence of agritourism
Agritourism, is one alternative for improving the incomes and potential economic viability of small farms and rural communities, regional or organic food. Agrotourism is a mild form of sustainable tourist development and multi-activity in rural areas through which the visitor has the opportunity to get acquainted with agricultural areas, agricultural occupations, local products, traditional cuisine and the daily life of the people, as well as the cultural elements and the authentic features of the area, while showing respect for the environment and tradition. Moreover, this activity brings visitors closer to nature and rural activities in which they can participate, be entertained and feel the pleasure of touring, learning and discovering.
Agritourism is rest in the country on a farm. This form of rest enables getting to know the farm and the interesting methods of production used in agriculture, contact with nature, supply of fresh and healthy food, and spending free time in an unconventional way.
The food may be based on farm products. It is also possible to buy milk, cheese, eggs and vegetables. If the guests request - full board. The landladies often offer tasty food (full board) based on farm products.
At the same time, it mobilises the productive, cultural and developmental forces of an area, contributing in this way to the sustainable environmental, economic and social development of the rural area.
In Poland in 2007 there were almost nine thousand agritoursim farms (table
1).
Table 1.
Wojewodztwo Liczba obiektow
Dolnosl^skie 592
Kujawsko-Pomorskie 333
Lubelskie 408
Lubuskie 164
Lodzkie 167
Malopolskie 1590
Mazowieckie 378
Opolskie 112
Podkarpackie 1074
Podlaskie 629
Pomorskie 770
Sl^skie 384
Swi^tokrzyskie 355
Warminsko - Mazurskie 869
Wielkopolskie 474
Zachodniopomorskie 491
RAZEM: 8790
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Source: http://www.intur.com.pl/bazy/kwatery/kw1.php?zestaw=agroturystyka
Vacation on a farm is the best solution for those who wish to spend holidays in close contact with nature. The number of such accommodations as well as their quality have recently increased and improved. Agrotourism is very popular with families with kids. It is also a very efficient and comfortable way of getting acquainted with the country and its people. The „Gospodarstwa Goscinne" Polish Federation of Rural Tourism promotes this kind of rest.
Agritourism services, as it was mentioned yet, consists of basic and complementary services. The first one are connected with accommodation, food and transport. The second one concern, among others different form of recreation. Recreation services in agritourism development are very important and tourists often expect different forms of spending their leisure time in interesting way.
Recreation as the element of agritourism product
Recreation or fun is the expenditure of time in a manner designed for therapeutic refreshment of one's body or mind. While leisure is more likely a form of entertainment or sleep, recreation is active for the participant but in a refreshing and diverting manner. As people in the world's wealthier regions lead increasingly sedentary lifestyles, the need for recreation has increased. The rise of so called active vacations exemplifies this.
Recreation can become an organized activity of local governments and forprofit enterprises. Local governments often create parks boards and/or community centers. Growing interest and funding via grants and taxation can result in an official parks and recreation department, which provides venues and staffing for organized sports, at-risk-youth activities, arts and crafts, and senior citizen activities.
In the "Lexicon of Tourism and Sightseeing" [2000] the term "recreation" is presented as: "rest, taking a breather, entertainment, different forms of activity (rest) voluntarily chosen for one's own satisfaction, out of occupational, social home and scientific duties, that is in free time from compulsory activities".
In the typology of kinds of tourism services there are many terms connected with recreation, for example: recreation services, recreation and entertainment services, recreation and sport services. In the group of last one there is an activity which consists in organization conditions for tourists to active leisure and go in for different forms of recreational sport [Borne, Dolinski 1998].
Out of the term: "recreation services" sometimes there is another similar term which can be met in the literature: "concomitant base". Different fitting can be classified to it [Kowalczyk 2001]:
- such which enable tourists to use tourism values of given area (for example chairlifts),
- facilitating tourism running (travel agents, and tourism movement service offices),
- entertainment (for example: showrooms, cinemas),
- service (for example: stations of Volunteer Water and Mountain Rescue Service, police stations, hairdressing salons, shops with souvenirs).
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Different forms of recreation exist in agritourism. Sometimes farms offer a guide to the neighbouring area, bike rides and evenings at a bonfire or grill. Horse riding facilities, too.
In agritourism activity different forms of recreational services play a very important role. Forming novel package recreational services is an essential issue. Such package can become a magnet to attract tourists to particular agritourism farm. Farmers very often offer carriage rides, sleigh rides, cycle and walking rallies, canoeing trips on rivers; ability of mushroom picking.
Among recreational services there some activities connected with health care. One of them is apitherapy. It's the medical use of honey bee products. This can include the use of honey, pollen, propolis, royal jelly, and bee venom. Most claims of apitherapy have not been proved to the scientific standards of evidence-based medicine and are anecdotal in nature. A wide variety of conditions and diseases have been suggested by believers in the therapy as candidates for it, the most well-known being bee venom therapy for autoimmune diseases and multiple sclerosis.
Another form of rehabilitation is hippotherapy. In its environment, a therapist uses the horse's movement to provide carefully graded sensory input. A foundation is established to improve neurological function and sensory processing, which can be generalized to a wide range of daily activities. Unlike in therapeutic horseback riding, where specific riding skills are taught, in hippotherapy the movement of the horse is a means to a treatment goal. Another name for hippotherapy is Aloka
The equine therapy is especially useful in a wide range of health disorders:
• Different types of paralysis
• Down Down Syndrome
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Epilepsy
• Alzheimer
• Autism
• Cerebral atrophy
It is also recommended in orthopedic disorders and injuries in general; rheumatologic problems such as arthritis and osteoarthritis, respiratory conditions such as asthma, allergies, and psychiatric and psychological categories as phobias, stress and sensory disturbances.
Hippotherapy can help with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippotherapy]:
• Gross motor skills
• Speech and language abilities
• Articulation
• Oral motor skills
• Respiration and postural/core control
• Fine motor skills
• Sensory processing
• Behavioral and cognitive abilities
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Results of research
Results of research conducted in 365 agritourism farms showed that farmers offer many different recreational services for their guests. They most often mentioned: bonfire making, grilling, mushroom picking, guide services, assistance for farm work, and recreation - sport equipment rental.
All kinds of different forms of recreation is presented in table
Table 2.
Forms of recreation in examined agritourism farms
Number of Percentage
Form of recreation agritourism of all
farm examined farms
Making bonfire, grill 356 97.5
Mushroom picking 241 66,0
Guide service 199 54,5
Assistance for farm work 199 54,5
Recreation - sport equipment rental 175 47,9
Regional food making teaching 147 40,3
Sleigh riding and britzka riding 128 35,1
Swimming-pool or paddling pool 57 15,6
Handicraft teaching 48 13,2
Horse riding teaching 30 8,2
Horse riding - hippotherapy 11 3,0
Other 37 10,1
Source: own research.
Examined owners of agritourism farms offer their guests different spaces, equipment and fittings, too. The tourists are able to use them in their leisure time. The most farmers have got garden furniture and balconies. It's worth mentioning that over 80% farmers have dining room which is used both for breakfast, dinner, supper and any time when guests want to be there.
In table 3 there is the list of all spaces, equipments and fittings which are destined to be used by tourists.
Table 3.
Spaces, equipments and fittings in examined agritourism farms destined for tourists
Space and equipment Number of indications Percentage of all examined farms
Garden furniture 310 84,9
Dining-room 301 82,5
Balconies 253 69,3
Children playground 245 67,1
Television room 190 52,1
Terrace 133 36,3
Others: 75 20,5
Total: 1507
Source: own research.
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Analyzing table 3 it is important to say that all equipments and fittings building can be refunded from union funds which come from the Rural Areas Development Program for the years 2007 - 2013.
Conclusions
Recreational services are very important determinant of agritourism development. In agritourism offer these services must be placed. Agritourism farms' visitors often want to spend their leisure time in interesting way. They want to spend this time actively. That's why farmers are obliged to form different recreation services, especially active ones.
On the base of results obtained in the researches conducted in 365 agritourism farms in Malopolska Region it's obvious that farmers offer their guests many different forms of recreation services. Among them there are both active and passive forms of recreation. There are differents forms of equipment and fittings which are for tourists' use , too.
Literature
Borne H., Dolinski A., Organizacja turystyki, Wydawnictwo Szkolne i Pedagogiczne, Warszawa 1998, s. 98.
Kowalczyk A., Geografia turyzmu, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warszawa 2001, s. 141.
Mazur E., Leksykon turystyki i krajoznawstwa. Uniwersytet Szczecinski, Szczecin 2000, s. 53.
Internet addresses
http ://www. intur.com.pl/bazy/kwatery/kw1.php?zestaw=agroturystyka http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippotherapy
Стаття надшшла до редакцИ 16.09.2009
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