Agritourism liability: why definition matters from a legal and risk management perspective

Authors: Renata Endres, A. Bryan Endres, Jessica Guarino, Tyler Swanson, & Suiwen (Sharon) Zou

Journal: Current Issues in Tourism

Published: July 23rd, 2024

Abstract:

This letter aims to illuminate the legal issues and challenges surrounding agritourism liability and agritourism legal definitions, which are overlooked in the tourism literature. By demonstrating a lack of a clear and consistent agritourism definition and its impacts on liability exemption laws in the US, we discuss the legal and industry-wide complications surrounding an ambiguous definition and argue that this ambiguity may discourage agritourism expansion and operation sustainability, lead to inequity among various forms of agritourism businesses, and undermine agritourism visitors’ right.