Willingness to Pay of Agritourists for Grape Products in Takestan County

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Rezvan Rahmani 1
Mohammad Hassan Vakilpour 1
Sadegh Khalilian 1
Seyed Habibollah Mosavi 1
Arashk Masaeli 2
1 Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
2 Department of Tourism Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism (RICHT), Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
Abstract
Challenges such as perishability, low prices, rising production costs, and market fluctuations reduce producers’ ability to set prices effectively. However, demand driven by Agritourists’ willingness to pay plays a crucial role in determining equilibrium prices. Agritourism, by enabling tourists to visit orchards and directly harvest products themselves (pick‑your‑own method), allows farmers to sell products directly and potentially capture higher prices. The present study aims to estimate the willingness to pay of Agritourists for grape products (seedless white and seedless red varieties), as well as to evaluate the added value generated by Agritourism in Takestan County, Iran. Data were collected through a combination of literature review and a field survey with 140 questionnaires completed by tourists attending the Takestan Grape Festival and transit tourists passing through roadside shops in the region during the September 2024 harvest season. A convenience sampling approach was used, and the Contingent Valuation Method with a double-bounded dichotomous choice (DBDC) design was estimated in Stata17 using the doubleb command. Results revealed mean willingness‑to‑pay values per kilogram of white seedless grape and red seedless grape as $1.02 and $1.19, respectively. There were significant positive correlations between WTP and the variables of age, income, and the intention to stay overnight. Intermediary prices for the same period were $0.27 and $0.33 per kilogram, respectively, implying stated gross price premium of approximately 3.8 and 3.6 times the intermediary price. This difference represents a stated gross price premium, not net value added.
Keywords
Agritourism
Contingent Valuation Method
Double-Bound Dichotomous Choice
Grape
Willingness to Pay
Takestan
Subjects
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