Agritourism as an Emerging Sustainable Tourism Industry in Uzbekistan

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report (New Reviewer)

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

 

This paper has gave us a macro description on the development of agritourism and sustainable tourism in Uzbekistan, but the manuscript is too simple to reflect the academic value, and it still needs to be improved.

1) Give a detailed review on Agritourism in Uzbekistan including its rising, development, residents opinion and basic statistics, such as income, tourists;

2) why does agritourism and sustainable tourism emerge in Uzbekistan; authors should describe maps of resources and investment;

3) authors can use field interview to gather information of tourists, rural governor, local residents attitudes.

Author should make a great work to improve this research.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

 

This paper has gave us a macro description on the development of agritourism and sustainable tourism in Uzbekistan, but the manuscript is too simple to reflect the academic value, and it still needs to be improved.

1) Give a detailed review on Agritourism in Uzbekistan including its rising, development, residents opinion and basic statistics, such as income, tourists;

2) why does agritourism and sustainable tourism emerge in Uzbekistan; authors should describe maps of resources and investment;

3) authors can use field interview to gather information of tourists, rural governor, local residents attitudes.

Author should make a great work to improve this research.

Author Response

This paper has given us a macro description on the development of agritourism and sustainable tourism in Uzbekistan, but the manuscript is too simple to reflect the academic value, and it still needs to be improved.

• Give a detailed review on Agritourism in Uzbekistan including its rising, development, resident opinion and basic statistics, such as income, tourists.

I have included some more information about the development of Uzbekistan including a brief history and included information about the growth in tourist arrivals. I have already included information about basic statistics from pages 185 to 207 including a map showing the location of Uzbekistan in Central Asia, as well as discussing the importance of agriculture and main crops in production.

• why does agritourism and sustainable tourism emerge in Uzbekistan; authors should describe maps of resources and investment.

As we stated in the introduction, sustainable tourism refers to the economic, environmental, and socio-cultural aspects of tourism development, and is intended to provide a balance that must be established between these three dimensions to guarantee the long-term sustainability of tourism. As noted in the paper, Uzbekistan is an emerging country and is in the early stages of development which is mainly focusing on the economic aspect. I have not included maps of resources and investment policy as this is paper is only concentrating on the development of tourism and its links with farming and agricultural production in a rural setting.

• authors can use field interview to gather information of tourists, rural governor, local resident’s attitudes.

This is a conceptual paper which is the first stage of research into looking at the literature on agritourism in Uzbekistan. As it is a new and emerging area, the aim was to draw together all the secondary studies on this topic to determine the gaps in literature through an extensive literature review. This was noted in a paper by Togaymurodov (2022) who conducted a questionnaire survey of 110 farmers in 14 districts in the Samarkand region in Uzbekistan, found that only 12% of farmers in Uzbekistan were familiar with the concept of agritourism.  The next stage and second paper to be developed is to conduct primary research to gather information from tourists and key stakeholders about their views on agritourism.

 

Reviewer 2 Report (New Reviewer)

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The topic addressed is very interesting, especially in the context in which Uzbekistan has become more and more visible on the tourism map, recently.

In order to improve the research, I propose a series of changes and additions:

The abstract must necessarily contain the purpose of the study, the objectives, the main methodological approaches and some conclusions.

The methodology of the study is not sufficiently explained. Reference is made exclusively to the study of specialized literature, but no specialization software is used in relation to the keywords or the topic of the studies (Voyant ot other). It also mentions the application of a questionnaire to the 110 farmers (lines 244-252), but it is not clear who carried out this research. It would be worthwhile for the results of the questionnaire to be analyzed extensively.

It is necessary to introduce a section that explains the specific context of the country: the specialized literature can be detailed, respectively the studies that address agritourism in Uzbekistan; it would be necessary to present the legislation that encourages or supports agritourism; the tourism development strategy implemented at the country level should be presented, and explicitly with reference to agritourism.

Pay attention to lines 91-95, the information is repeated.

It would be more useful if the discussions are presented separately from the results, in a specific section.

 

Author Response

The topic addressed is very interesting, especially in the context in which Uzbekistan has become more and more visible on the tourism map, recently.

In order to improve the research, I propose a series of changes and additions:

1. The abstract must necessarily contain the purpose of the study, the objectives, the main methodological approaches and some conclusions.

The abstract has been completely re-written as suggested by the reviewer.

1. The methodology of the study is not sufficiently explained. Reference is made exclusively to the study of specialized literature, but no specialization software is used in relation to the keywords or the topic of the studies (Voyant ot other). It also mentions the application of a questionnaire to the 110 farmers (lines 244-252), but it is not clear who carried out this research. It would be worthwhile for the results of the questionnaire to be analyzed extensively.

There seems to be some confusion about the research methodology. This paper is a conceptual paper which does not collect primary data. The main purpose of a conceptual paper is to focus on integration and proposing new relationships among different constructs, and not to include primary data. Our methodology involved an extensive literature review of secondary sources using an iterative search of several databases.  This is not a systematic literature review, and no specialized software was used. The keywords in the databases were used to find research studies that included agritourism in its title, that related to the aim of our study.

The use of a questionnaire you referred to is a study we quoted by Togaymurodov (2022) of 110 farmers in 14 districts in the Samarkand region in Uzbekistan, that only 12% of farmers were familiar with the concept of agritourism, 47% of farmers had heard of it, while 41% did not know anything about it. This was part of the literature review

1. It is necessary to introduce a section that explains the specific context of the country: the specialized literature can be detailed, respectively the studies that address agritourism in Uzbekistan; it would be necessary to present the legislation that encourages or supports agritourism; the tourism development strategy implemented at the country level should be presented, and explicitly with reference to agritourism.

We presented a brief history of Uzbekistan (lines 180-227) that included the location (including a map) and looked specifically at the importance of agriculture to the country’s economy, including the main crops grown. We included information about the growth of tourism to Uzbekistan between 2018 and 2020, that would help support the growth of the agritourism industry in the future.  We have also included a paragraph about legislation (or a Decree) by the President (2013) that promoted the balanced development of the service sector in rural areas, the expansion of access of rural populations to modern high-tech and market services, to create new jobs and to increase the income of the population.

1. Pay attention to lines 91-95, the information is repeated.

Thank you. One of the sections has been deleted.

1. It would be more useful if the discussions were presented separately from the results, in a specific section.

Although this is a conceptual paper and does not include any primary data, we took your advice and split the results and discussion into two different sections. The results looked at the common definitions of agritourism, as well as the economic benefits of agritourism in some of the less developed countries. The discussion section focuses of the importance of developing agritourism in Uzbekistan, initially because of its economic benefits to help support the raising of subsistence living standards of farming agricultural products. This is followed by a section that emphasizes need to also to consider the environmental and socio-cultural benefits of agritourism to guarantee the long-term sustainability of tourism.

 

Reviewer 3 Report (New Reviewer)

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Dear Authors,

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read your manuscript. The article presents an interesting and relevant topic, being well-structured and clearly presented. In the current context, the subject addressed in the paper is undoubtedly important, with the potential to make significant contributions to the sustainable development of agricultural tourism in Uzbekistan.

However, this article/work paper still requires some improvements:

Ø  I believe that a detailed "Literature Review" chapter would more effectively link the general information with the specific analysis presented. In the abstract, you mentioned that "This literature review provides a synthesis of findings through an iterative search of databases that were analysed to determine if there are gaps in the literature." Thus, including a dedicated literature review chapter would give readers a clearer perspective on the current state of research and better highlight the identified gaps.

Ø  The study method should also include quantitative elements based on statistical data. These data would add value to the analysis and strengthen the presented conclusions. For instance, presenting statistics on the economic impact of agritourism in the studied regions could provide a more concrete picture of its benefits.

Ø  It is important to clearly address the limitations of the study and suggest directions for future research. The subject is of critical practical and managerial importance, but academic readers appreciate when authors provide clear guidance on the necessary next steps to advance in this research area.

 

Author Response

However, this article/work paper still requires some improvements:

1. I believe that a detailed "Literature Review" chapter would more effectively link the general information with the specific analysis presented. In the abstract, you mentioned that "This literature review provides a synthesis of findings through an iterative search of databases that were analyzed to determine if there are gaps in the literature." Thus, including a dedicated literature review chapter would give readers a clearer perspective on the current state of research and better highlight the identified gaps.

 

This is a conceptual paper and because of this no primary data was collected. As a result, our paper does not have a dedicated literature review. However, we have split this into two sections – a results section looking at the common definitions of agritourism, followed by a discussion of the economic benefits of agritourism in the least developed countries, with an emphasis on the central Asian country of Uzbekistan. The discussion section focuses on the importance of developing agritourism in Uzbekistan because of the economic benefits as well as the environmental and socio-cultural benefits of agritourism to guarantee the long-term sustainability of tourism.

 

2. The study method should also include quantitative elements based on statistical data. These data would add value to the analysis and strengthen the presented conclusions. For instance, presenting statistics on the economic impact of agritourism in the studied regions could provide a more concrete picture of its benefits.

There were no previous studies that we could find that conducted primary research on the economic impacts of agritourism on the regions. The only study we could find was by Togaymurodov (2022). who conducted a questionnaire survey of 110 farmers in 14 districts in the Samarkand region in Uzbekistan and found that only 12% of farmers in Uzbekistan were familiar with the concept of agritourism. Agritourism is a new form of tourism in Uzbekistan. This was one of the reasons we wrote this conceptual paper was to encourage researchers to conduct primary research projects with key stakeholders.

 

3. It is important to clearly address the limitations of the study and suggest directions for future research. The subject is of critical practical and managerial importance, but academic readers appreciate it when authors provide clear guidance on the necessary next steps to advance in this research area.

We have relooked at the limitations of this paper. This is a conceptual paper and does not collect primary data through quantitative/ qualitative research methods, therefore there are very few actual limitations. However, I have made several suggestions for future research.

Reviewer 4 Report (New Reviewer)

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

page 2 line 85 -90 and 91-96 doubled 

page 3 material and methods - 

Line 110 Indicates That 38 Articles Were ANALYSED, The Period And How They Were Selected For Which Keywords WE CAN SEE. I think More Detailed Analysis Of These Articles: From Which Countries Which Period Was More Active From 2004 To 2024, Maybe Earlier More Popular Is Now Declining, Whether There Were Articles From Uzbekistan, Developed Or Developing Countries ?  - It helps to understand - Why This Scientific Development Will Be Useful For Uzbekistan

line 392 gives information about small numbers  - not clear better to show the % or quantity.

Agrotourism in these publications has been studied in Europe, Italy, India, China, is there a difference in sustainable development or the experience of which countries is better to apply what conclusion? It can add information about where economic benefits are only seen and in which countries the environment and the socio-cultural component are a priority benefits for agrotourism/

also will be great to see the number of farmers in the country and % how many already in tourism and how many not.

line -161-162 great example off india - is it possible to add any result of this education for tourism development in India.

I fully agree with the author that attention to agrotourism and sustainable development of rural areas is necessary

Author Response

1. Page 2 line 85 -90 and 91-96 doubled 

Thank you, one of these sections has been deleted.

2. Page 3 Materials and Methods - Line 110 Indicates that 38 articles were analyzed - More detailed analysis of these articles is required. From which countries and which period was more active between 2004 To 2024? Were these articles From Uzbekistan, or Developed/Developing Countries?  - It helps to understand why this scientific development will be useful for Uzbekistan.

Yes 38 articles were analyzed. Some of the earlier articles were related to studies about definitions of agritourism and discussed the economic growth of agritourism in several European countries. Research studies on agritourism in Uzbekistan only began to be published between 2017-2022, because there was a realization of the need to reduce the high poverty levels in rural areas, and how agritourism was one means of linking the concepts of tourism with agriculture to improve the standard of living of farmers and their families. 

3. Line 392 gives information about small numbers. It is not clear - better to show the % or quantity.

These were limitations and barriers to agritourism development that were suggested in various studies for other countries. We listed them because we felt they would be useful for key stakeholders to consider in the development of agritourism practices in Uzbekistan. Numbers or percentages were not provided.

 

4. Agrotourism in these publications has been studied in Europe, Italy, India, China, is there a difference in sustainable development or the experience of which countries is better to apply what conclusion? It can add information about where economic benefits are only seen and in which countries the environment and the socio-cultural component are a priority benefits for agrotourism, also will be great to see the number of farmers in the country and % how many already in tourism and how many not.

As I said in this conceptual paper, in the less developed countries such as Uzbekistan, economic motives are regarded to be the most important drivers of agritourism. In the more developed European countries (and China) where agritourism has become widely accepted and practiced, we have noted the importance of developing three pillars of sustainable tourism, which includes environmental and socio-cultural benefits as well for key stakeholders.  Because agritourism is a new industry in Uzbekistan we do not have any national statistics yet. We know that there were 67,804 farms in 2016. We know from a small study by Togaymurodov (2022) of 110 farmers in 14 districts in the Samarkand region in Uzbekistan, that only 12% of farmers were familiar with the concept of agritourism, 47% of farmers had heard of it, while 41% did not know anything about it. This conceptual paper is to encourage more researchers to conduct further scientific studies to promote agritourism and to encourage government departments and USAID to fund pilot studies.

5. Line 161-162 great example of India - is it possible to add any results of this education for tourism development in India.

India is one of the major global countries that has supported the growth of agritourism. It was not possible to add further studies about education, because the emphasis of this paper was ons Uzbekistan. However, we found one reference that you might find useful.

Singh, P., & Kumar, M. Identifying the potential of agritourism in India: Overriding challenges and recommend strategies. International Journal of Core Engineering & Management 2016, 3(3), 7-14.

 

6. I fully agree with the author that attention to agrotourism and sustainable development of rural areas is necessary.

Thank you for your positive and supportive comments.

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report (New Reviewer)

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

authors have improved the manuscript and meet publication requirements.

Reviewer 2 Report (New Reviewer)

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The research was completed with the requested information, the authors answering the questions.

I recommend publishing the article in its current form.

This manuscript is a resubmission of an earlier submission. The following is a list of the peer review reports and author responses from that submission.

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This is a paper with an important topic, agritourism as a sustainable tourism industry. The author made an extensive literature review, analysing with more than 50 publications related to agritourism, which is a good start for the topic. However, there are several papers that do the same, and in 2020 Sustainability already published a paper with the same topic, providing more than 90 citations on agritourism and sustainability 4 years ago, therefore this paper has no merit in this field (Ammirato, Salvatore, et al. "Agritourism and sustainability: What we can learn from a systematic literature review." Sustainability 12.22 (2020): 9575.)

To make the literature review useful, the topics should be more comprehensively grouped, as now the citations from the 50 papers go all along the paper, and some topics appear in random places, for example education as a topic appears in 3 places, and so on...

There is no advance literature analysis, like relation graphs with gravity models that show the relationship between different publications.

The figures are really not up to the standard, Fig 2, is just the reprint of a figure from an institute not cited, the OTHER Fig 2 is a lousy map...

The novelty of the paper would be the analysis of agritourism in Uzbekistan, but this is totally undeveloped in the paper, no case studies, not any research can be seen.

Therefore this peer advises the author to make a proper research in the countries near Uzbekistan on the real situation of agritourism, and use the more tidily organized version of this paper as the literature review of that paper.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

no comments

Author Response

Reviewer 1
This is a paper with an important topic, agritourism as a sustainable tourism industry. The author made an extensive literature review.	Thank you I agree that it is an important topic based on the large number of academic publications in the last 10 years.
However, there are several papers that do the same, and in 2020 Sustainability already published a paper with the same topic, providing more than 90 citations on agritourism and sustainability 4 years ago, therefore this paper has no merit in this field (Ammirato, Salvatore, et al. "Agritourism and sustainability: What we can learn from a systematic literature review." Sustainability 12.22 (2020): 9575.)	Thanks for making me aware of the Ammirato et al paper. I was not aware of it. As a result and based on the reviewer’s comments, I have changed the total focus of the paper to concentrate on the need to better promote the three pillars of sustainable tourism of agritourism in Uzbekistan.
To make the literature review useful, the topics should be more comprehensively grouped, as now the citations from the 50 papers go all along the paper, and some topics appear in random places, for example education as a topic appears in 3 places, and so on...	I have re-written the review and more comprehensively grouped the citations to provide support for each of the pillars. I have also reduced the number of citations to avoid repetition.
There is no advance literature analysis, like relation graphs with gravity models that show the relationship between different publications.	I have changed the analysis from a systematic literature review to a review of the main publications on the topic to support the case for the need to widen the publications to support a sustainable tourism focus rather that merely an economic focus.
The figures are really not up to standard, Fig 2, is just the reprint of a figure from an institute not cited, the OTHER Fig 2 is a lousy map...	I have deleted all the figures from the new manuscript. I take offence about your comment about Figure 2 being a ‘lousy map’ and originally thought it important for readers to know where Uzbekistan is situated in Central Asia. However, I have deleted the map as suggested.
The novelty of the paper would be the analysis of agritourism in Uzbekistan, but this is totally undeveloped in the paper, no case studies, not any research can be seen.	I agree with the reviewer and have changed the focus of the paper as previously stated above, and included a case study of a successful sustainable tourism business in Uzbekistan as suggested.

 

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

1.In The Case Study 1 The economic benefits of agritourism for Uzbekistan, what are the agricultural advantages of Uzbekistan, how does it utilize agritourism, and how does it improve the national economic benefits?

2.By what means can agri-tourism promote the development of environment, society and culture?

3.What are the restrictions and obstacles facing the development of rural tourism in developing countries? How do these restrictions and barriers affect the entrepreneurial capacity of farmers and the sustainable development of tourism?

 

Comments on the Quality of English Language

It is suggested to modify the syntax of the full text.