---

The continuing stratification of agritourism attractions

For many years, we have been reporting on the growing socioeconomic stratification of spending at community location-based entertainment venues (LBEs), which includes agritourism; a larger and larger share of spending comes from higher socioeconomic households. In a sense, you might call this the gentrification of LBEs. We now have 2023 data from the U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey that shows that the trend is continuing post-pandemic.

For all location-based entertainment and art venues, both in the local community and on trips, the share by households with a bachelor's or higher degree has grown to 80% of all admissions and fees, up from 73% pre-Covid 2019. Households with a bachelor's or higher degree were 43% of all households in 2023; those less than half of all households account for 80% of such spending.

Takeaway

The target market for location-based entertainment, including agritourism, continues to become more gentrified. High inflation during the past few years is probably a cause of the accelerated gentrification. Lower socioeconomic households struggle the most due to higher living costs, forcing them to reduce or eliminate any discretionary visits to LBEs. Agritourism operators need to recognize the target market they need to cater to and design every aspect of their business to attract and satisfy that target market - the highly educated, higher socioeconomic households.

Subscribe to Agritourism Today

---