Organic farm-based tourism as an element of sustainable multifunctiona

This study tries to find an alternative approach in the new tourism concept (NTC) to support small farms in peripheral regions through organic farm-based tourism under the concept of sustainable multifunctionality. The research investigates and analyses: 1) Organic farmers’ difficulties in running organic farm-based tourism and their potential abilities to offer tourism services; 2) Domestic and foreign tourists’ leisure preferences in the NTC and leisure constraints in peripheral regions. The methods include tourist/organic farmer questionnaires, interviews and field research. Multiple regression and descriptive statistics are used for quantitative data analysis. The results of the research may be useful in developing a tour management model to bring extra income to organic farmers and peripheral regions. This will help sustain rural communities in the periphery through multifunctionality and farm-based tourism as well as engage the support of the local and regional governments.