Successful managerial behaviour for farm-based tourism: A functional approach

• Farm-based tourism operators must cover a wide range of managerial sectors.
• Functional approach regards managerial process as a set of functions with specific skill.
• Managerial behaviours of farm operators consist with six categories.
• Developing new products and promotion factor among managerial behaviours have significant influence on business performance.

Despite the overall growth of rural tourism, not all have benefited equally. This study reports research designed to improve managerial performance in the rural tourism sector in Korea. Six areas are identified as being important: product/service development, business planning and evaluation, promotions, human resource management, networking, and cost reduction. It was found managers in farm-based tourism have primarily concentrated on product/service development, human resource management, and cost reduction. Of these areas, only product/service development and promotions have exhibited a statistically significant effect on real profits and on positive subjective evaluations of financial results. Based on these results, this study suggests that continuous investment in product/service development and promotions should have positive effects on operations and result in increased competitiveness and viability in the Korean farm tourism sector.