Cultivating success: personal, family and societal attributes affecting women in agritourism

The public’s burgeoning interest in authentic place-based experiences and local foods, as well as farmers’ interest in increasing their incomes continue driving the development of agritourism. Although women often initiate agritourism, scant information identifies the factors contributing to or hindering their success. Therefore, this study combines feminist and systems approaches to identify the factors affecting women achievements in their functions as farmers and entrepreneurs and in various aspects of their lives. With such an aim, 216 women farmers in North Carolina (USA) were surveyed in 2017. Descriptive and inferential statistics of data collected indicate that women felt moderately successful in their farmer and entrepreneur roles, while self-fulfillment and business continuance appeared as the most important dimensions of their success. Significant models indicate that attributes at the personal, farm household, and society levels predict women’s perceived functional success and the importance of different life aspects to their success. Study results move the literature of women in agritourism beyond entrepreneurial motivations by providing a thorough understanding of how gendered nuances in agriculture affect farm women’s success in a holistic manner. This study also contributes to the sustainability of the agritourism practice by identifying attributes that increases chances of success among women farmers.