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BRIAN ILBERY*, IAN BOWLER^, GORDON CLARK^^, ALASTAIR CROCKETT^ and ALASTAIR SHAW^
(Received October 1996; in revised form February 1997)
ILBERY B., BOWLER I., CLARK G., CROCKETT A. and SHAW A. (1998) Farm-based tourism as an alternative farm enterprise: a case study from the northern Pennines, England, Reg. Studies 32, 355-364. This paper examines the development of farm-based tourism in the less favoured area of the northern Pennines. Farm tourism is conceptualized as an alternative farm enterprise (AFE) comprising one of seven possible `pathways of farm business development'. As such, the development of farm-based tourism (FBT) is influenced by a range of factors both external and internal to the farm. Lower levels of family labour distinguish tourist AFE farms from non-tourist AFE farms, while different types of FBT are associated with particular farm and household characteristics. Nevertheless, the reasons for adopting tourist enterprises are diverse and often very individualistic. Institutional involvement in FBT in the study area is increasing, but it is reactive rather than proactive and tends to constrain as well as enable the development of farm tourism. Few farmers have contacted institutions about new or existing farm tourism enterprises. However, levels of inter-agency networking are increasing and a core of eight institutions is now dominating institutional behaviour towards AFEs and FBT in the northern Pennines, especially in Northumberland. More research is needed on the interactions between farm households and institutions in the development of FBT.
Agricultural restructuring Post-productivist transition Alternative farm enterprises Farm-based tourism Northern Pennines
INTRODUCTION
The shift towards a post-productivist agricultural system is now well advanced in many developed market economies. This restructuring, commonly referred to as the `post-productivist transition' (PPT) (LowE et al., 1993; SHUCKSMITH, 1993), is characterized by such attributes as a reduction in food output, the progressive withdrawal of state subsidies for agriculture, the growing environmental regulation of agriculture and the creation of a more sustainable agricultural system (ILBERY and BOWLER, 1998). The PPT is being manipulated by state intervention and, in particular, by changing agricultural policies at national and international levels. Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in 1992 and the GATT agreement on world trade in agricultural commodities in 1993 have combined to prevent farm households either maintaining or increasing their income through...