Agri-Tourism

Authors: Aaron Blacka, College of Human Resources; Pierre Couture, College of Human Resources; Charles Coale, Agricultural and Applied Economics); John Dooley, University Outreach; Andy Hankins, Virginia State University; Ann Lastovica, Virginia State University; Brian Mihalik, College of Human Resources; Charlotte Reed, Public Service Programs; and Muzzo Uysal, College of Human Resources

Publication Number 310-003, posted November 2001

Appendix B: Agri-Tourism Matrix

Net Profit Margin
How does the selected agri-tourism enterprise compare to the net profit of other enterprises?

Physical Resource Utilization
How well does the enterprise utilize existing farm resources?

Human Resource Utilization
How does the enterprise utilize existing farm labor resources?

Perishability
How long will the products involved with the agri-tourism enterprise stay fresh?

Can the product/service be used tomorrow if not today?

Does an empty room or seat impact cash flow?

Farm Plan

Financial
How will the enterprise fit into the farm financial plan?

What will be required financially for the farm to enter the enterprise? Change this by:

Are financial and human resources available to support new tourism activities?

Operation and Organization
How does the enterprise fit into the operational plan for the farm?

How will the enterprise fit into the organizational structure of the farm?

Marketing and Sales
Will this enterprise fit into the current marketing of the farm?

Community Market Base

Current Market Size
Will the surrounding market base support this enterprise?

Long-Term Market Size
Will the surrounding market base continue to grow in the future?

Available Service Industry
Will the surrounding service industry (restaurant, hotel, transportation, gift shop, etc.) support the tourists/consumers that will visit the farm?

Kepnor-Traegner Decision Matrix⁵
A benefit of using the decision matrix is the advantage of double ranking each attribute.

• A weighting factor is applied to each key attribute.
• Then each agri-tourism enterprise is scored on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being the least desired and 10 being optimal as it relates to that particular attribute.
• This ranking is placed in the top left corner of the matrix.
• Once an enterprise is given a score from 1-10, then this number is multiplied by the weighted factor percentage.
• This number is placed in the bottom right corner of the matrix.
• After multiplying each enterprise by each weighted factor, add these numbers together to receive an overall ranking.
• Compare the total enterprise scores to each other to see how realistic the enterprises are to the farming operation.

⁶ The Kepnor-Traegner Decision Matrix table has been adapted by Scott Sink

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