Agro-tourism development based on the concept of tourism product diversification

Agro-tourism plays an important role in the sustainable social, economic and tourist development of rural areas. Development opportunities depend on the organization and activities of networked agro-touristic economies with different stakeholder groups with aiming for rural tourism development, both locally and regional. Structural changes in production and structural changes in economic activities are increasingly present on agricultural farms in Croatia. The weakening of the rural economy has affected producers who are trying to find new business opportunities in the environment and through realization to create additional sources of income. Meanwhile, tourist demand is growing and consumer preferences increasingly emphasize the meaning of indigenous food products, preserving the culture and lifestyle of the local population. Economic empowerment of local communities based on their own resources creates the preconditions for sustainable and continuous development. The fact is that local communities can identify their own resources on the most appropriate way (natural and social attractiveness of locations) and as such have the best opportunities of quality management for local rural areas development. This paper points out the weaknesses and opportunities for future agro-tourism development in the eastern part of Croatia. Regional differences also require different guidelines for strategic management of agro-tourism development as a specific form of rural tourism. The aim of the paper was to establish guidelines for the integration of tourist offer based on the diversification of products and services in agrotourism. The current development of agro-tourism is based on a local entrepreneurial initiative which resulted in an unplanned development with a very heterogeneous tourist offer. In such conditions it is difficult to spot a tourist product that would be recognizable, original and unique in this area. The research was conducted by the survey questionnaire method in a selected sample of 147 respondents who visited at least one of the agri-tourism offer from September 2016 to September 2017. Secondary data were collected from scientific and professional relevant publications and websites. Conducted research confirmed the findings that agrotourism should be developed more intensively as a specific form of rural tourism, because over 92% of the national territory of the Republic of Croatia is a rural area. The future agro-tourism development should be integrated through a tourist offer in order to achieve ecological, sociocultural and economic equilibrium in development. Concept of diversification of tourism product can be achieved through better cooperation between farms as well as with all stakeholder groups in order to adjust very dynamic changes on touristic market demand.