Republic of uzbekistan tashkent institute of irrigation engineers and agriculture mechanizations

CHAPTER 1. THE ESSENCE AND CONCEPT OF THE ATTRACTIVENESS OF AGRITOURISM SERVICES

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   Analysis of academic approaches to the definition of agritourism as one of the types of implementation of tourism services
   

Despite the fact that agritourism is far from a new phenomenon, scientific interest in it in Uzbekistan has arisen only in recent decades. This is due to the fact that the problem of rural decline has become acute and, as a result, it has become necessary to develop programs for the return of the able-bodied population to the villages. Another reason was the crisis in agriculture, which especially affected small farms. As a result, the idea arose of introducing European experience in diversifying the work of farms, namely, attracting tourists to guest houses on farms.
According to some reports, agricultural tourism, in the form in which it is familiar to us now, originated in France in the province of Alsace in 1952. At that time, the French government supported the proposal to host holiday-makers on the basis of farms during the economic crisis. At first, this measure was considered only as an additional income for farmers, but the demand did not stop growing and agritourism became an independent type of tourism in the 1970s. By that period, income from tourism for many farmers exceeded income from their main activity, agricultural production. Later, this type of tourism has become widespread in other European countries. Nowadays, about 35% of residents of European countries prefer rural recreation to other types of tourism (Birzhakov, 2010).
Despite such a high popularity of this type of tourism, in the scientific community, both European and Russian, there is still no clear definition of agritourism and its place in the classification has not been highlighted. Also, there are practically no practice-oriented studies devoted to agritourism in Russia, although the need for them is very high among those who develop this direction. Next, we will try to study in more detail the issue of approaches to the definition of agritourism in the scientific environment and give our own working definition, which we will be guided by further in the work. We will also try to highlight the distinctive features of agritourism in order to determine its place in the classification. We will also consider approaches to the study of attractiveness in tourism and their possible application for agritourism.
To date, there is no single and clear definition of agritourism that would be exhaustive, and at the same time reveal the concept of this term and describe its boundaries. If we consider different sources, then you can find many different definitions that can both complement each other and contain conflicting elements. In this section, we explore different approaches to the definition of agritourism in order to formulate a more precise and scientific definition that would not only reveal this concept, but also show the limits of its application.
For the first time the term "agritourism" appeared in European literature. The French researcher F. Mouinet in his work "Rural tourism" gave the most general definition of agritourism. According to F. Mouane's concept, agritourism is a special form of tourist recreation in the countryside, associated with the active participation of tourists not only in rural life, but also in agricultural production (Mouane, 2007). This definition has the broadest and most universal character, and can be considered basic in understanding the European model of agritourism.
A.B. Zdorov writes that in a narrow sense, agrarian tourism is understood as the rest of urban residents in the countryside, which implies more or less long-term rent of a country house (Zdorov, 2007). In a broad sense, agrarian tourism includes all types of pastime of urban residents in rural areas, i.e. elements of recreation and recreational activities. In particular, in this case, we are talking about a combination of rest with work on a personal plot, ethnographic excursions with an emphasis on the rural component, and voluntary temporary participation in agricultural production as part of recreational activities.
OV Vlasenko defines agritourism as a type of rural subsidiary industries, which includes a range of possible agritourism services: observation and care of domestic animals and plants; horse riding; food using agricultural products of local production and crafts; purchase of souvenirs, etc. (Vlasenko, 2007)
"Agritourism is a sector of the tourism industry, focused on the use of natural, socio-cultural, cultural, historical and other resources of the countryside and its specifics to create an integrated tourist product." (Belova M.A., Komova O.S., 2011). A complex tourist product is understood as a complex of material and non-material components (goods and services), which directly provides this or that object for its visitors.
As you can see, this definition is suitable from the standpoint of defining resources for creating a tourist product. First, it describes the basic distinctive resources on which the agritourism product is based, namely, natural, socio-cultural, cultural and historical resources that can be obtained only in rural areas. Secondly, the specifics of the entire product of agritourism tourism is indicated - being in a rural area and using the resources typical of such an area.
Based on this concept, one can immediately determine that agritourism is directly related to rural tourism, which will be discussed in the next section.
If we take into consideration the definition of the AgroTourism Association, then “Agrotourism is a type of activity organized in rural areas, in which complex services for accommodation, recreation, food, excursion services, leisure and sports events are formed and provided for visiting guests. , pursuing active types of tourism, organizing fishing, hunting, acquiring knowledge and skills. "
The presented definition is more capacious, however, it concretizes to a greater extent those types of activities that are included in the complex tourism product, but it lacks a resource approach that reveals on the basis of which resources the service is formed.
From the position of Bizyukova T.T. (2011) "Agritourism - recreation in the countryside, during which tourists lead a rural lifestyle, get acquainted with local customs and rituals, participate in traditional rural labor." This definition correlates agritourism with rural areas, local customs and traditional rural labor, which, based on the analysis of previous definitions, makes it possible to single out these criteria as characteristic for agritourism. However, the relationship between the users of agritourism services and the subjects of agritourism is expressed from a different angle. Bizyukova shows that agritourism users do not just use the services of agritourism facilities, but lead a similar life and do similar jobs as local residents. Those. the proposal is based on the provision of specific services that imitate the life of people in rural areas. It should be borne in mind that the author builds his definition based on the analysis of foreign experience. Bizyukova chooses western farms as the objects under consideration, some of which use programs to provide mutually beneficial services: vacationers are provided with accommodation and meals on the farm, while the farmer receives assistance in agricultural work. The author also refers such relationships to the sphere of agritourism, but makes a reservation that in such relationships there may be no monetary transactions between the farmer and vacationers, and the rest itself becomes more specific, providing a deeper immersion in the life of rural residents.
A more structural understanding of such programs is provided by World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF), a set of international agritourism programs that combine tourism with work in organic farming. The main idea of ​​such programs is the exchange of breathing labor for housing and food. In this case, the vacationer becomes a farm worker (4-6 hours a day), and the farmer provides accommodation and food. At the same time, both parties do not enter the process of monetary exchange, except for contributions to WWOOF, where a farmer pays a membership fee, and a vacationer pays for providing a database on farms.
Sofield, T. (2005) Agri-Tourism: A Cabinet Briefing Paper for the Ministry of Tourism defines agritourism as “an entrepreneurial activity in which the components of rural life are combined with those of tourism”. The author refers to the components of rural life all types of activities that are inherent in rural residents, such as farming, fishing, forestry and others, carried out in rural areas. Among the components of tourism, Sofield includes the processes and procedures of accommodation, meals, time management and leisure, which create new experiences and provide travelers with new experiences and knowledge.
It should be remembered that agritourism is more a model for the diversification of rural activities, which seeks to increase the incomes of rural residents and contribute to local economic development. This is what the author of this definition is based on, since it separates two kinds of components: rural and tourist. At the same time, he puts rural components in the basis in order to show that they are key, not only in terms of agritourism, but also in terms of the main economic activities of such farms. Tourist components are designed to provide activities related to the tourist complex: accommodation, travel, various types of recreation. At the same time, the author associates the creation of impressions with the tourist components, which speaks of the functional component of tourism. Despite the fact that impressions are created in conjunction with the corresponding service or object, the task of the tourist components is to present services in such a way that the vacationer perceives them positively.
A completely different approach is proposed by L.V. Dubinicheva, P.M. Soviets. (2009) in the work "Agritourism in the development of rural areas." Under agritourism, the authors take “the holding of various events (sports, health-improving, cultural and entertainment) aimed at creating favorable social conditions in rural areas, increasing the efficiency of agricultural production and, finally, ensuring an optimal competitive environment in the tourist area. market ". This approach considers tourism activities as a component that will stimulate the main activity - agricultural production, as well as improve social conditions in rural areas. In this case, tourism is not seen as a way to diversify, but only as a tool that can be used to improve the components of rural life. At the same time, the concept lacks characteristic elements that can identify agritourism as a type of activity.
In contrast to the approach of L.V. Dubinicheva, P.M. you can give the definitions of Blacka A., etc. (Virginia Cooperative Extensions) “Agri-tourism” and The State University of New Jer-sey in “Agritourism Resources”. Blacka A., etc. define agriturism as "an activity aimed at attracting vacationers and tourists to places that are used primarily for agricultural purposes." At the same time, the author considers tourism as an alternative way of earning money for agriculture (i.e., it implies diversification), and at the same time, quite significantly expands the range of services, which, in particular, may be unusual for rural households. (services that are designed specifically for holidaymakers). For example, includes services such as camping or music festivals.
When considering agritourism Blacka A., etc. denotes different options for the ratio of tourism and production activities of agriculture and identifies three possible options for existence:
• Additional business. The tourist component has a small share in the income of the farm, for example, when the owner of the farm invites small groups of tourists to the farm to get acquainted with the animals, or invite tourists to live in a certain season;
• Complementary business. The tourist component has approximately equal weight in the income of the economy, as well as from the income from agricultural activities;
• Main business. The tourism component has a greater weight than the share of income from agricultural products. A good example is wine tourism, when from the production of grapes, wine, the farmer expands the range of services. He can open a winery and invite vacationers for a day or weekend to taste his wines. However, he can also offer to stay at his farm for the night.
This classification shows the possible options for the ratio of tourism and agricultural activities in the agritourism complex. It should be noted that in all options tourism is considered as an alternative source of income (diversification of activities).
To top it off, the authors give an approximate classification of agritourism by groups of services provided:
• Accommodation, accommodation and meals (bed and breakfast - overnight accommodation, camping - organizing a tent camp, farm accommodation - farm accommodation, weddings, receptions, honeymoon - events that last more than a day);
• Entertaining and recreational activities and events (fishing, horseback riding, sightseeing trips, hunting and others);
• Special events and festivals (local events that are celebrated in the countryside: music festivals, weekends, harvest festivals).
This classification divides the services into groups, which are mostly provided in the objects of agritourism.
The definition of The State University of New Jersey in Agritourism Resources approaches agritourism as a business that positions agricultural properties as tourism destinations for learning and recreation. This definition shows that the tourist component of agritourism objects is put in the first place and such objects are repositioned into objects of tourist recreation. Agricultural activity becomes the basis for highlighting a new direction of tourism - agritourism, while agricultural production feeds the tourism component.
Based on the considered definitions, we will formulate the concept of agritourism, which will be used as the main concept in our work. Agritourism is a type of recreation in rural areas in an operating farm, which is based on the use of natural, socio-cultural, cultural, historical and other resources of the countryside and its specifics, in which tourists, along with recreation, are involved in a rural lifestyle and participate in traditional rural labor, providing them with accommodation, food and other types of services reproduced in rural areas.
It should be noted that agritourism must meet the following criteria:
1. Be based on the use of natural resources
2. Include the possibility of involving tourists in rural life
3. Be aimed at the development of the socio-cultural sphere
4. Be cost effective and ensure the development of rural areas
This definition equally describes the resources that are involved in the production of agritourism services, and at the same time indicates the nature of the services that can be provided by an agritourism facility. The definitions of agritourism and agrarian tourism in this work are considered synonymous.
In the next block, we will consider the place of agritourism in the classification of tourism in general, introduce the concepts of ecotourism, rural tourism, and analyze the ratio of these types of tourism to identify the distinctive features of agritourism from sustainable, rural, ecological and other types of tourism.

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