1. Introduction
This paper outlines the findings from an empirical investigation
into the views of independent farming families in the Yorkshire and
East Anglia regions of the United Kingdom in terms of the choices
and challenges which they face as a consequence of taking an
entrepreneurial route to diversification into farm-based tourism
attractions. It also considers how this affects their attitudes towards
more traditional farming activities and identities. Using the
conceptual lens of experiential authenticity, defined as trueness to
oneself (Trilling,1974), the focus is on the family farm as opposed to
large-scale corporate modernised farms, and is concerned with the
actions and interactions of individual farming families in relation to
the tourism businesses which they own and manage. The views and
priorities of farm-based family business entrepreneurs are explored
through their personal depictions of their farms and related
tourism attractions, the extent to which they choose to change and
adapt themselves and their farms in the light of their new ventures,
and their consequent projection of the type of experiential
authenticity which their own particular farm-based tourism
attraction offers. As Getz and Carlsen (2005: 261) stress: ‘Rural and
peripheral areas are especially influenced by family business, so
research directed at these settings should be a priority’.