Adoption of Agritourism Digital Marketing Technologies as a Strategy for Enhancing Sustainable Development in African Economies

This chapter articulates how the adoption of agritourism digital marketing technologies can be explored as a strategy for enhancing the sustainable development of African economies. The global agritourism market, valued at USD64,29 billion in 2019 and forecast to reach USD117,37 billion by 2027, continues to grow, exhibiting an annual compound growth rate (CAGR) of 7.42% during the projection period. While Europe dominated the global agritourism space in 2019, with a market share of 47.06%, the African tourism and hospitality industry has over the years continued to grow, and one of the sub-sectors that has been exhibiting significant growth is agritourism. African economies are predominantly agrarian with a thriving tourism and hospitality industry. The nexus between agriculture and tourism, which birthed the agritourism concept, has of late gained prominence and continues to attract much attention among researchers, policymakers and practitioners within the industry. There has been growing entrepreneurial behaviour among farmers globally, which has significantly impacted the agritourism sector. The increasing consumer demand for inexpensive, nature-based and sustainable tourism products has also been a catalyst for the growth of the agritourism sector. In addition, governments, tourism and hospitality associations and private organisations have increased interventions aimed at developing a growing agritourism industry by launching projects and programmes that further boost revenue from both agriculture and the tourism industry, significantly driving agritourism market growth. This chapter thus explores extant literature on the subject, with a view to establishing a sound theoretical framework and empirical evidence on current practices within the industry across African economies. The promotion of local agritourism, economic diversification, community-based environmental stewardship, empowerment of local communities, knowledge sharing, capacity building, destination branding and tourism promotion have been propounded in literature as interventions that can be implemented by agritourism players within African economies in enhancing sustainable economic development. The chapter also focuses on how African governments can potentially collaborate with tourism promotion organisations in developing appropriate digital marketing strategies for enhancing the growth of agritourism in Africa. Further, the chapter looks at how digital marketing technologies can be deployed to promote responsible tourism and environmental conservation in agritourism. Using a multiple case study approach, the chapter demonstrates the feasibility of adopting agritourism digital marketing technologies in enhancing sustainable economic development in African economies. Based on the study findings, the authors draw conclusions and proffer recommendations for further research to strengthen extant theoretical literature, enhance policy development and review and improve the application of concepts in practice.