Designing a Regional Policy of Agrotourism – The Case of Auvergne Region (France)

The present article reports the meeting of a research program on rural tourism with the need of knowledge expressed for a new policy in favour of agritourism, led by the Region Auvergne (France). The research program (Modintour, 2008-2011) dealt with models of tourism and studied the territorial integration of tourism. Integration of tourism develops complementarities with other local activities. Indeed agritourism is an activity which associates two distinctive sectors. The empirical study shows some importance of agritourism for the local offer, especially in the destinations of dispersed tourism. It highlights the diversity of the logics of the farmers and of their networks. It shows the relevance of support already available for the farmers through consular chamber and networks. But it shows also the stake of better cooperation between networks, the need to link the existing support system to the specialised tourism bodies, and the need for a renewed common strategy.