'Agri-Tourism'-An Upcoming Trend in Tourism and New Income Source for Farmers

Innovation is a change that unlocks new value. It is a saying that a need is pre-requisite of innovation. Now-a-days a need is originated by the biggest force called competition. Competition left you no choice other than going for innovation. It may be any form like product strategy, marketing strategy or may be in any business operation. Innovation can easily quantifiable in product or manufacturing industry, it is proving it by giving modified product, new versions of basic model or altogether new concept. Product innovation goes hand in hand with technology. Service sector has good scope to bring innovation in practice, but the real challenge is to maintain it for long time and even not imitable. In tourism, innovation can be translated into two broad categories; one can find new places or re-positioning of the old one. But in tourism the new wave is by the farmers. Here farmers have played the role of innovators. They have not found new places, not even re-positioned any monument or historical place. They have made an extra use of available resources they have. The research carried out to find out the need and acceptability of the innovation in tourism named as 'agri-tourism' The author has narrated the new practice in tourism by two case studies along with empirical research to know its acceptance. The samples chosen are the visitors of agri-tourism places nearby Pune city area, the number of sample is 150.