Organic farm-based tourism as an element of sustainable multifunctionality to support peripheral regions-Hualien, Taiwan

This study tries to find an alternative approach in the new tourism concept (NTC) to support small farms in peripheral regions through organic farm-based tourism under the concept of sustainable multifunctionality. The research investigates and analyses: 1) Organic farmers' difficulties in running organic farm-based tourism and their potential abilities to offer tourism services; 2) Domestic and foreign tourists' leisure preferences in the NTC and leisure constraints in peripheral regions. The methods include tourist/organic farmer questionnaires, interviews and field research. Multiple regression and descriptive statistics are used for quantitative data analysis. The results of the research may be useful in developing a tour management model to bring extra income to organic farmers and peripheral regions. This will help sustain rural communities in the periphery through multifunctionality and farm-based tourism as well as engage the support of the local and regional governments.