ICT factors affecting agritourism growth in rural communities of Lesotho

Abstract

Agritourism is an important part of a tourism strategy and can improve the livelihoods of farmers in the agricultural industry. Changes that have been brought on by technology have created a challenging environment for farmers that do not have access to and knowledge about technologies available for agritourism. The aim of the study was to explore some of the factors that affect the growth of agritourism as in industry in Lesotho. The study further aims to contribute towards agritourism development, related studies and propose guidelines to overcome negative impacts of agritourism growth. Multiple-case studies were used as a research strategy. Six commercial farms were selected using nonprobability sampling and judgmental techniques. The units of analysis were farms, officials from government and tourists as a group. The units of observation included the individual farmers, farm employees, officials from Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Culture, and individual tourists. Content analysis was used to analyse data collected from face-to-face interviews. The findings show that while technology is viewed as an important component for agritourism growth, issues such as the lack of infrastructure, costs, information, communication and technology literacy, awareness and education are some of the factors that hinder the growth of agritourism. The study concludes by recommending guidelines on how to overcome some of the factors affecting the growth of agritourism.