Chinese demand for agritourism in rural America

Abstract

China is one of the largest sources of outbound tourists coming to the United States. We used data from a choice experiment to determine whether Chinese tourists are interested and willing to pay for agritourism tour packages in which the U.S. state of Oklahoma is the rural destination. Our research is important because agritourism is a growing source of farm revenue, international tourists have potential to accelerate this growth, and China is the largest market for international tourism. Results suggest that, from various agritourism packages offered to them, Chinese travelers are price conscious but willing to pay significant amounts for packages that provide more local foods, that allow them to visit more event and recreation sites, and stay in cabins rather than farmstead accommodations. We also find evidence of significant heterogeneity in Chinese willingness to pay for agritourism attributes.