e-Review of Tourism Research (eRTR), Vol. 18, No. 2, 2020 http://ertr.tamu.edu 269 Raktida Siri Maejo University Motivations of agro-tourists in visiting agricultural fair: A case study of an agricultural fair in Chiang Mai, Thailand Current research on special events often focuses on an urban area, and there is a lack of studies on special events in agriculture, especially those that concern tourist behavior in an agricultural context. This paper, therefore, studies the motivation of agricultural tourists (or agro-tourists). A self-administered survey was conducted with a total of 310 respondents. A factor analysis was utilized to recognize tourist motivation towards an agricultural fair. The majority of respondents was unmarried female, with an average age of 28 years old, and was a first-time visitor to the agricultural fair. The results showed three main motivations of the tourists to attend the agricultural fair; to find new experiences, participate in leisure activities, and maintain relationships. The study also found that statistically, there were significant differences in giving the importance to different motivations to visit agricultural fair across genders and tourist group types. Keywords: Motivation, Agro-tourist, Agro-tourism, Agricultural fair Raktida Siri School of Tourism Development Maejo University 63 Sansai-Phrao Road Nongharn, Sansai District, Chiang Mai, 50290 Thailand Phone: [66] 53 875151 Email: raktida@mju.ac.th Raktida Siri is an assistant professor in tourism management at the Maejo University with research interests in tourist behavior and travel destination image. Her current research focuses on media influence on travel destination image formation. http://ertr.tamu.edu/ mailto:raktida@mju.ac.th e-Review of Tourism Research (eRTR), Vol. 18, No. 2, 2020 http://ertr.tamu.edu 270 Introduction Agricultural tourism is a tourism phenomenon that is occurring worldwide. It is regarded as a bridge that connects people in urban areas with nature and culture, allowing spaces to learn about agriculture, sharing knowledge between farmers, food producers, and consumers, and directly buying agricultural produce from farmers (Sonnino, 2004). Agricultural tourism is a combination of tourism and recreation activities (Busby & Rendle, 2000). The activities include overnight stay at an agricultural farm, participation at a festival or special event about agriculture, hunting, harvesting agricultural produces, bird-watching, horse-riding, etc. (Barbieri & Mshenga, 2008). It can be seen that the usage of an agricultural area has been more for tourism purposes (National Farmers' Union [NFU], 2015b). Special events help manage the number of tourists that might become overwhelming during peak tourist seasons, distribute them to different times of the year, and boost the tourism industry. Special events also invite money from outside a community into the community where the special event is held. Tourists' spending creates income and jobs in the community, improving community members' quality of life (Warnick et al., 2012). Visitors of special agricultural events are involved directly with agriculture, such as farm owners, animal breeders, and agricultural stakeholders (NFU, 2015b). However, visitors in the present become more varied, including urban people who seek simplicity in life (Scott, 2014). The variety of visitors is associated with people's lifestyle in present days who are more aware of their health, good living, and healthy food. The consumers desire to know the source of the foods that they consume or to buy the food products that can be identified of their origins on a supply chain (NFU, 2015a). Therefore, for the successful impact of special agricultural events on farmers and the community, the events' experiences should be designed to respond to the changing needs of consumers in the current days. Consequently, it is important to study agro-tourist behavior. http://ertr.tamu.edu/ e-Review of Tourism Research (eRTR), Vol. 18, No. 2, 2020 http://ertr.tamu.edu 271 Motives activate behavior. In the consumer decision-making process, motivation precedes and influences satisfaction, which directly connects with consumer loyalty. Subsequently, researchers studied travel motivation to understand complex tourist behaviors better, resulting in marketing strategies to maintain satisfied and loyal consumers. However, several research studies have been conducted in the context of travel motivation in an urban area. There are still very few studies focused on travel motivation in special events, especially in an agricultural context. This study engages agro-tourists, who are a niche market. It also considers travel motivation on attending an agricultural fair and identifies travel motivation of visitors in terms of gender differences and tourist group types. Literature review Travel motivation Motivation is a topic that many tourism scholars examine because motivation is a cause of human behavior, related to the needs, expectations, and satisfaction. Theories concerning motivational modeling have been introduced to explain tourist behaviors. Various models for characterizing tourist motivation have been developed. Push and pull motivation is a theory regarding motivation that is widely examined in terms of tourism. Motivation can be divided into two categories: push and pull motivation. First, the push motivation is an internal demand of tourists that pushes tourists to seek products or tourism services to escape from the current situation, relax, improve health, spend time with family, etc. Second, the pull motivation is the elements of a product or tourism service that attract tourists, such as beaches, accommodations, facilities, history, the culture of a tourist location, etc. (Dann, 1981; Khuong & Ha, 2014; Bianchi, 2016). Optimal Arousal theory explains another aspect of motivation in that human seeks activity that can offer them a new experience and valuable reward that serves as an escape from their problem. This http://ertr.tamu.edu/ e-Review of Tourism Research (eRTR), Vol. 18, No. 2, 2020 http://ertr.tamu.edu 272 theory views motivation as a search and an escape (Biswas, 2008). Tourist motivation is regarded as a factor that directs tourism activities in terms of the cause of tourism, the reason for choosing tourist location, and overall satisfaction of traveling (Vuuren & Slabbert, 2011). Researchers have investigated the motivation in various travel and hospitality settings and dimensions. Regarding the special events, visitor motivation for attending wine and food festival is the desire to taste new wine and food, enjoy the event, enhance social status, escape from routine life, meet new people, spend time with family, and get to know the celebrity chefs and wine experts (Park, Reisinger, & Kang, 2008). Numerous studies focus on tourist motivation in the context of culture. A study on a hybrid cultural perspective of Chinese niche hotels has found that independent traveler motivation towards Chinese niche hotels included: attractive environment, quality, uniqueness, spiritual well-being, traditional architecture, family togetherness, foreign style offerings and service, luxury amenities, and entertainment (Wang, Ying, Mejia, Wang, Qi, & Chan, 2020). Another study examined the motivation of diners with dissimilar cultural backgrounds, i.e., comparing Chinese and American tourists and restaurant's attributes. The study indicates that Chinese tourists are more strongly attracted to the restaurant by the food offered, while American tourists are more into fun-seeking and are more comfortable with crowdedness (Jia, 2020). Moreover, motivation and customer satisfaction factors have been shown to vary among different demographic groups. A study on international casual-dining restaurants in Korea indicates significant differences between motivation factors and patrons' demographic groups (Jang & Zhao, 2006). Furthermore, a relationship between motivation and satisfaction has been investigated, e.g., an international culinary event study uncovers this relationship (Smith, Costello, & Muenchen, 2010). Its motivation analysis of event attendance finds that food, event novelty, and socialization are push motivations identified for attending a culinary event; secondly, food products, support services, and essential services are pull motivations http://ertr.tamu.edu/ e-Review of Tourism Research (eRTR), Vol. 18, No. 2, 2020 http://ertr.tamu.edu 273 and have a significant predictive effect on overall satisfaction. Therefore, the study of tourist motivation is important to boost satisfaction and attract and predict tourists' future wants. Nevertheless, the study on tourist motivation relates to complex psychology. As a result, it should be explored in various aspects, contexts, and time frame (Huang, 2010). This present research puts a focus on tourist motivation towards an agricultural fair. Effects of gender differences and traveling companion on travel motivation The diversity of tourists, including gender and traveling companions, are factors that affect tourist motivation. Gender is usually studied in terms of employment (Pritchard & Morgan, 2000). Regarding tourism, studies on differences between male and female tourists on aspects of tourism have been conducted. For example, Collins and Tisdell (2002) carried out a study on the pattern of traveling abroad. It was found that gender affects the wants of tourism differently. Male tourists were often found to travel for business purposes; whereas, female tourists often travel for leisure. Moreover, Andreu et al. (2005) discovered significant differences between male and female tourists regarding their motivation. Male tourists were motivated to travel for recreation activities and activities in a tourist location. On the other hand, female tourists were motivated to travel for leisure and escape banal everyday lives. Meng and Uysal (2008) investigated differences between male and female tourists concerning natural attractions. It was shown that female tourists emphasized natural attraction components, especially on scenery and recreation activities, including going to festivals, museums, historical sites, and shopping for souvenirs. Male tourists emphasize challenging natural activities such as trekking, horse-riding, hunting, and fishing. Nonetheless, Ahn et al. (2016) found out that female tourists were faced with more restrictions than male tourists due to their roles, familial http://ertr.tamu.edu/ e-Review of Tourism Research (eRTR), Vol. 18, No. 2, 2020 http://ertr.tamu.edu 274 obligations, and financial constraints. Hence, it can be seen that gender is an important factor regarding tourist behavior. Conditions of group travel are different from solo travel in terms of travel patterns and decision-making for tourist location choice (Wu et al., 2011). For example, traveling with the family requires decision-making from the members (Kozak, 2010). Also, there are more advantages of group travel than solo travel, including social interaction, time spending with friends and family, aversion from loneliness, travel companion, safety, ability to access different locations, cost-saving, etc. (Curtin, 2010). Concerning solo travel, there might be fewer restrictions compared to those who travel with family or partner. This is because decisions can be made without requesting others' opinions (Kozak & Duman, 2012). The main motivation of solo travelers is finding new experiences without losing their privacy and convenience (Laesser et al., 2009). Still, solo travelers might be concerned with safety regarding crimes and health issues during travelling (Wilson & Little, 2008). Thus, it can be said that group travel is different from solo travel. Based on the literature review, it was found that there are still very few studies on tourist behavior in special events. In addition, studies in the present on special events focus on urban areas. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct a study in a suburban area on agro- tourist behavior, especially on their motivation to cause their behavior. Moreover, gender differences and group/solo travel patterns should be investigated in terms of agro-tourism motivation. Objective: To examine the motivations of agro-tourist towards an agricultural fair. Hypothesis: Gender and travel companion affect motivation towards an agricultural fair. http://ertr.tamu.edu/ e-Review of Tourism Research (eRTR), Vol. 18, No. 2, 2020 http://ertr.tamu.edu 275 Methodology This study covered Maejo University's area, Chiang Mai, a location for the annual agricultural fair. There were several agricultural activities in the fair, such as agricultural exhibitions and learning bases, national and international conferences, demonstration farms, cultural shows and entertaining stages, Smart Farming research and innovation exhibitions, and organic market. The samples of the study were Thai visitors at the fair. Based on the number of visitors at a similar fair, the number was 500,000 (Khon Kaen University, 2018). By calculating a sample size based on the quantitative study by Yamanae (1973) at the confidence level of 95%, the sample size representing the population was 400 persons. Data were collected by accidental sampling via a self-administered survey. The survey was designed based on the literature review. Particularly, part 2 of the survey was inspired by related work of Jolly and Reynolds (2005), Che et al. (2006), and Srikatanyoo and Campiranon (2010). Jolly and Reynolds (2005) studied motivation for visiting agricultural farm/Ranch activities, including Buy fresh/homemade, Educational, Farm activities, Nature, Buy from a farmer, Visiting friends/family, Vacation/relaxation. Che et al. (2006) investigated consumption decisions and demographic characteristics of agritourism consumers. They found the top three reasons for coming to the agritourism site: getting fresh vegetables, fresh produce, picking vegetables; to buy apples; family outing, family fun, family party, and family trip. Srikatanyoo and Campiranon (2010) indicated 17 agritourist motivations, which comprised of To relax mentally, To enjoy scenery, To relax physically, To enjoy life, To be in an agricultural environment, To discover new places and things, To escape from day-by-day stress, To be together with family, To improve health and wellbeing, To build strength relationships, To get away from city life, To experience agricultural life and activities, To make friends or meet people with similar interest, To improve agricultural skills, To attend agricultural events or festival, To purchase agricultural http://ertr.tamu.edu/ e-Review of Tourism Research (eRTR), Vol. 18, No. 2, 2020 http://ertr.tamu.edu 276 goods, To have an adventure. All 11 examining aspects of travel motivation were designed from the aforementioned studies. Its content was reviewed and adjusted according to the suggestions of an expert of behavioral study for the best content validity and reliability. The survey is composed of three parts as follows. 1. Visitor (1) Demographic characteristics including gender, marital status, occupation, monthly average income, education, age; and, (2) Tourist behavior: companion and travel pattern 2. Motivation, which is measured according to the level of significance that affects the decision to visit the agricultural fair. Five-point Likert Scale was employed with rating scales from 1 to 5 (1=unimportant; 2=of little importance; 3=moderately important; 4=important; 5=very important). There are 11 aspects of motivation, including (1) Time- spending with family (MFam) (2) Various foods, desserts, and drinks (MFood) (3) Socialization with people with similar interest in agriculture (MNewSoc) (4) Agricultural knowledge development through activities such as agricultural exhibitions and training (MAgriKnow) (5) New experiences (MNewEx) (6) Escape from banal everyday life (MGetaway) (7) Participation in recreation activities such as tourism route, concert, and ornamental fish competition (MRecrea) (8) Relaxing activities such as seeing flower garden (MRelax) (9) Photo-sharing on social networks (MPhoto) (10) Direct shopping from farmers (Mshop) (11) Participation in Maejo University alumni homecoming (MAlum). 3. Open-ended questions regarding the visitor’s experiences and suggestions for the agricultural fair. The data acquired for this study were analyzed with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) for Descriptive Analysis (Frequency, Mean scores), Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and Factor Analysis. http://ertr.tamu.edu/ e-Review of Tourism Research (eRTR), Vol. 18, No. 2, 2020 http://ertr.tamu.edu 277 Data analysis and results The findings are divided into three parts, including (1) Characteristics of the visitors, (2) Tourist motivation, and (3) Hypothesis verification: Gender and travel companion have an effect on motivation towards the agricultural fair. Characteristics of the visitors The results indicated that out of the 310 surveyed respondents, 65.2 percent of the samples were female, and 34.8 percent were male. The majority of the samples of 74.2 percent were single, and 24.8 percent were married. The youngest sample was 18 years old, and the oldest one was 75 years old. The average age was 28 years old. Almost half of the samples of 48.1 percent were students. The second and third highest population were private business owners of 21.6 percent, and employees of 16.1 percent, respectively. The majority of the samples' average monthly income was less than 10,000 Baht at 47.4 percent. 26.8 percent of the samples had average monthly income at 10,001-20,000 Baht and 14.2 percent at 20,001-30,000 Baht. Moreover, the education breakdown of the sample included 43.2 percent who graduated high school, 36.5 percent who graduated with a Bachelor's degree and 15.2 percent who graduated Diploma degree. More than half of the samples of 55.2 percent visited the fair with a friend/friends, 16.8 percent visited with an extended family, 15.2 percent were a solo visitor, and 12.9 percent visited with a spouse. Most of the samples at 70.3 percent were first-time visitors. The findings are reported in Table 1. Table 1: Characteristics of the visitors Characteristics of the Visitors (Total number of 310 persons) Percent Gender Male(108) 34.8 Female(202) 65.2 Marital status Married(77) 24.8 Single (230) 74.2 Divorced (3) 1.0 http://ertr.tamu.edu/ e-Review of Tourism Research (eRTR), Vol. 18, No. 2, 2020 http://ertr.tamu.edu 278 Characteristics of the Visitors (Total number of 310 persons) Percent Occupation Employee (50) 16.1 Student (149) 48.1 Private business (67) 21.6 Retired (11) 3.5 Housewife (4) 1.3 Others (29) 9.4 Average monthly income Less than10,000Baht (147) 47.4 10,001-20,000 Baht (83) 26.8 20,001-30,000 Baht (44) 14.2 30,001-40,000 Baht (18) 5.8 40,001-50,000 Baht (9) 2.9 50,001 Baht or higher (9) 2.9 Education High school (134) 43.2 Diploma (47) 15.2 Bachelor’s degree (113) 36.5 Master’s degree (15) 4.8 Doctoral degree (1) 0.3 Companion Solo (47) 15.2 Spouse (40) 12.9 Extended family (52) 16.8 Friend (171) 55.2 Travel pattern First-time visitor (218) 70.3 Returning visitor (92) 29.7 Age (Youngest at18years old; oldest at 75years old average age at27.86years old, SD 11.583) Gen Z (18-23 years old) (165) 53.2 Gen Y (24-42 years old) (108) 34.8 Gen X (43-54 years old) (21) 6.8 Baby Boomers (older than55years old) (16) 5.2 http://ertr.tamu.edu/ e-Review of Tourism Research (eRTR), Vol. 18, No. 2, 2020 http://ertr.tamu.edu 279 Tourist motivation Based on Table 2, exploratory factor analysis on motivation indicates that the sample visitors had three categories of motivation, including (1) To find new experiences, (2) To participate in leisure activities (3) To maintain relationships. The cumulative variability percent of the three categories of motivation is at 51.705. The first motivation has variability at 30.608. The second motivation has variability at 10.635. The third motivation has variability at 10.461. The three categories of motivation explain 51.705 percent of the variability of the independent variable. The current study employed a loading cut-off at 0.50. The details of the three categories of motivation are as follows. 1. Factor 1: To find new experiences is composed of 5 aspects of motivation: socialization with people with similar interest in agriculture, new experiences, agricultural knowledge development through activities such as agricultural exhibitions and training, participation in recreation activities such as tourism route, concert, and ornamental fish competition, and escape from banal everyday life 2. Factor 2: To participate in leisure activities is composed of 3 aspects of motivation: photo-sharing on social networks, relaxing activities such as seeing flower garden, and direct shopping from farmers. 3. Factor 3: To maintain relationship is composed of 2 aspects of motivation: participation in Maejo University alumni homecoming and time-spending with family. http://ertr.tamu.edu/ e-Review of Tourism Research (eRTR), Vol. 18, No. 2, 2020 http://ertr.tamu.edu 280 Table 2: Tourist motivation towards the agricultural fair Motivation Factor loading Factor 1: To find new experiences; explained variance = 30.608 Socialization with people with similar interest in agriculture .728 New experiences .711 Agricultural knowledge development through activities such as agricultural exhibitions and training .679 Participation in recreation activities such as tourism route, concert, and ornamental fish competition .541 Escape from banal everyday life .538 Factor 2: To participate in leisure activities; explained variance = 10.635 Photo-sharing on social networks .775 Relaxing activities such as seeing flower garden .715 Direct shopping from farmers .500 Factor 3: To maintain relationship; explained variance = 10.461 Participation in Maejo University alumni homecoming .750 Time-spending with family .713 Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization. a. Rotation converged in 6 iterations. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy .807 Bartlett's Test of Sphericity Approx. Chi-Square 607.669 df55Sig. .000 Table 3 displays the ranking of agro-tourist motivation towards the agricultural fair in the order of average score from the most highly motivated to the least motivated. The first three types of motivation that received the highest score are “Relaxing activities” (Average score = 4.25), “New experiences” (Average score = 4.19), and “Time-spending with family” (Average score = 4.11). http://ertr.tamu.edu/ e-Review of Tourism Research (eRTR), Vol. 18, No. 2, 2020 http://ertr.tamu.edu 281 Table 3: Ranking of agro-tourist motivation towards the agricultural fair Motivation Average Relaxing activities such as seeing flower garden (MRelax) 4.25 New experiences (MNewEx) 4.19 Time-spending with family (MFam) 4.11 Agricultural knowledge development through activities such as agricultural exhibitions and training (MAgriKnow) 4.03 Escape from banal everyday life (MGetaway) 4.03 Various foods, desserts, and drinks (MFood) 4.00 Participation in Maejo University alumni homecoming (MAlum) 3.96 Photo-sharing on social networks (MPhoto) 3.93 Participation in recreation activities such as tourism route, concert, and ornamental fish competition (MRecrea) 3.87 Socialization with people with similar interest in agriculture (MNewSoc) 3.86 Direct shopping from farmers (Mshop) 3.76 Hypothesis verification Gender and group/solo travel patterns have an effect on motivation towards the agricultural fair. Table 4 shows hypothesis verification by comparing the average scores of the above characteristics using analysis of variance. It was found that the hypothesis is correct. That is, gender and travel companion of a visitor affect motivation towards the agricultural fair differently with statistical significance (p ≤.05). They are different in the factors as follows. 1. Gender and one type of motivation: In terms of the motivation for various foods, desserts, and drinks (MFood), it was discovered that female (Average score = 4.11) is more motivated in terms of various foods, desserts, and drinks than male (Average score = 3.81). 2. Travel companion and three types of motivation: Travel companion has an impact on the three types of motivations: time-spending with family (MFam), escape from banal everyday http://ertr.tamu.edu/ e-Review of Tourism Research (eRTR), Vol. 18, No. 2, 2020 http://ertr.tamu.edu 282 life (MGetaway), direct shopping from farmers (Mshop). In the study, it was found that visitors who visited the fair with others including spouse, extended family, and friend(s) are more motivated by time-spending with family more than solo visitor. Those who visited the fair with extended family scored most on the motivation on time-spending with family (Average score = 4.44). Next is those with spouse (Average score = 4.60), those with friend(s) (Average score = 4.04), and lastly solo visitor (Average score = 3.60). Similarly, visitors who visited the fairs with others scored higher on the motivation to escape from banal everyday life more than solo visitor. Those who visited with extended family scored the highest (Average score = 4.38). Next is those with friend(s) (Average score = 4.08), with spouse (Average score = 3.88), and solo visitor (Average score = 3.57). Also, visitors who visited the fairs with others scored higher on the motivation on direct shopping from farmers more than solo visitor. Those who visited with a spouse scored the highest (Average score = 4.10). Next is those with extended family (Average score = 3.92), with friend(s) (Average score = 3.70), and solo visitor (Average score = 3.51) http://ertr.tamu.edu/ e-Review of Tourism Research (eRTR), Vol. 18, No. 2, 2020 http://ertr.tamu.edu 283 Table 4: Demographic characteristics and behavioral pattern which impact on the motivation towards the agricultural fairs (N, %) Average score on motivation M F a m M F o o d M N ew S o c M A g ri K n o w M N ew E x M G et a w a y M R ec re a M R el a x M P h o to M S h o p M A lu m Gender Male(108, 34.8) 3.94 3.81 3.85 3.98 4.15 3.95 3.87 4.18 3.74 3.68 4.06 Female(202, 65.2) 4.20 4.11 3.87 4.05 4.21 4.07 3.88 4.29 4.02 3.81 3.92 P<0.05 .079 .009 .901 .562 .548 .366 .970 .284 .028 .278 .482 Companion Solo (47, 15.2) 3.60 3.87 3.60 3.87 4.13 3.57 3.85 4.17 3.68 3.51 3.57 Spouse (40, 12.9) 4.60 3.68 3.70 4.00 4.18 3.88 3.58 4.28 3.75 4.10 4.03 Extended family (52, 16.8) 4.44 4.13 3.96 4.10 4.21 4.38 4.15 4.38 3.88 3.92 4.10 Friend (171, 55.2) 4.04 4.08 3.94 4.05 4.20 4.08 3.87 4.22 4.05 3.70 4.02 P<0.05 .000 .062 .097 .668 .959 .001 .133 .607 .131 .025 .372 Discussions Understanding agro-tourists' motivations are essential for tourism marketing, especially for event organizers who manage facilities and event elements that are to primarily attract visitors. This study shows that there are three types of motivation, which are; (1) to find new experiences, (2) to participate in leisure activities, and (3) to maintain relationships. This finding is in line with several previous studies. Jolly and Reynolds (2005) conducted a study of agro-tourist motivation in California, United States of America, and found that the tourists who participated in agro-tourism were most motivated to buy fresh products and home-made products. Their found secondary motivations were a desire to relax, desire for nature, desire to visit friends and family, and desire to participate in farm activities. Moreover, Che et al. (2006) conducted a study in Michigan, United States of America, and discovered that agro-tourists' main motivation was to buy vegetables and fruits. The study by Srikatanyoo and Campiranon (2010) in Chiang Mai, Thailand, found that agro-tourists' main http://ertr.tamu.edu/ e-Review of Tourism Research (eRTR), Vol. 18, No. 2, 2020 http://ertr.tamu.edu 284 motivations were mental relaxation and pleasure from nature. Results shown in these studies are in accordance with this study, which finds that the first three types of agro-tourists' motivations are relaxation, new experiences, and time-spending with family, respectively (Table 3). When considering the motivation based on the theory of push and pull motivation by Dann (1981), it was found that the average score of the push motivation towards agricultural fair is higher than that of the pull motivation. The push motivation includes relaxing activities such as seeing flower garden (MRelax), new experiences (MNewEx), time-spending with family (MFam), agricultural knowledge development through activities such as agricultural exhibitions and training (MAgriKnow), and escape from banal everyday life (MGetaway). The pull motivation includes various foods, desserts, and drinks (MFood), participation in Maejo University alumni homecoming (MAlum), photo-sharing on social networks (MPhoto), participation in recreation activities such as tourism route, concert, and ornamental fish competition (MRecrea), socialization with people with similar interest in agriculture (MNewSoc), and direct shopping from farmers (Mshop). Moreover, comparing the studies by Jolly and Reynolds (2005) and Che et al. (2006), which explored the motivation of agro-tourists in the United States of America, it was discovered that their main motivation is to buy fresh products, home-made products, and fruits and vegetables which are regarded as the pull motivation. On the other hand, the study by Srikatanyoo and Campiranon (2010) is similar to the current study, which found that the agro-tourists' primary motivation is to relax, which is a push motivation. Therefore, it can be said that the motivation of the agro-tourists in the Western and Eastern context is different. In terms of gender and travel companion that impact the motivation towards the agricultural fair, it was found that such factors have effects on the motivation differently with statistical significance. Female visitors are more motivated towards various foods, desserts, and drinks (MFood) than male visitors. This finding is in accordance with the studies by http://ertr.tamu.edu/ e-Review of Tourism Research (eRTR), Vol. 18, No. 2, 2020 http://ertr.tamu.edu 285 Beardsworth et al. (2002) and the Economic Times Business News (2016), which observed that women are happier than men when shopping. Women are more interested than men in trying new foods and mixing new ingredients. In addition, the current study found the differences with statistical significance between group-oriented tourists and solo tourists. The group-oriented tourists are more motivated than solo tourists to spend time with family, escape banal everyday life, and directly shop from farmers. This result is similar to that of Regan et al. (2012), who studied the group-oriented tourists' motivation towards a big event. Regan et al. (2012) discovered that the group-oriented tourists' main motivation was to find excitement, socialize, observe culture, observe activities in the event, and escape banalities. On the other hand, Heimtun and Abelsen (2014) studied young, solo tourists. It was found that this type of tourists usually travels alone in a familiar location. However, they hesitate and have negative feelings about going to an unfamiliar location. Therefore, it can be said that travelling in a group is preferable when going to a new location which can be an escape from everyday life and old, familiar places. Conclusion and Suggestions Studies on special events in the present often focus on an urban area. Also, there are still very few studies on special agricultural events, especially the ones that involve agro- tourists' behavior. Therefore, this study emphasizes the motivation of agro-tourists. The results show that there are three main types of agro-tourists' motivations: finding new things, participating in leisure activities, and maintaining relationships. The motivation to attend the agricultural fair can be ranked according to its score as follows: relaxing activities such as seeing flower garden, new experiences, time-spending with family, agricultural knowledge development through activities such as agricultural exhibitions and training, escape from http://ertr.tamu.edu/ e-Review of Tourism Research (eRTR), Vol. 18, No. 2, 2020 http://ertr.tamu.edu 286 banal everyday life, various foods, desserts, and drinks, participation in Maejo University alumni homecoming, photo-sharing on social networks, participation in recreation activities such as tourism route, concert, and ornamental fish competition, socialization with people with similar interest in agriculture, and direct shopping from farmers, respectively. The study also discovered the differences in motivation to attend the agricultural fair among different gender and travel companion patterns. That is, the motivation in terms of food has greater impact on female tourists than male tourists. Also, the group-oriented tourists are more motivated than solo tourists to spend time with family, escape banal everyday life, and directly shop from farmers. Motivation can be applied to predict the intention of tourists. In general, based on the theory of push and pull motivation (Dann, 1981), this study found that the pull motivations have a greater impact on the tourists at the agricultural fair. Therefore, the organizers of the fair can apply the pull motivation to design their public relations plan. That is, publications of the fair should focus on the activities that seem exciting to the tourists, such as agricultural innovation or agricultural technologies. Moreover, activities in the fair should provide entertainment to tourists. The activities may encourage participation and emphasize strengthening relationships such as co-creation activities among the visitors, their companions, and the organizers. When seeing images of such activities in a piece of advertisement, the tourists might be stimulated by the pull motivation such as a desire for leisure activities. Additionally, the fair should address the visitors' differences, such as gender, by designing activities that attract different genders. For example, as female visitors are more interested in foods, activities that involve foods should not be neglected because they can respond to the visitors' needs and increase the income of farmers and entrepreneurs who sell foods. Similarly, if the fair has the target visitors that travel in groups such as family, there should be new, unique activities that encourage group participation to maintain familial http://ertr.tamu.edu/ e-Review of Tourism Research (eRTR), Vol. 18, No. 2, 2020 http://ertr.tamu.edu 287 relationships. The activities are, for example, a tourism route that is elder-friendly, agricultural leaning bases that are entertaining to children, and direct shopping from farmers. Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research This is a study on the motivation of agro-tourists towards the agricultural fair. The study's limitation is that it could not cover every motivation that might impact the decision to attend the agricultural fair. Some motivation might not appear in this study. Moreover, the sample population could not represent the agro-tourists in other areas and contexts in agricultural tourist locations. This study explored big special events and motivation that specified types of activities such as tourism route, concert, an ornamental fish competition that might not be present at other agricultural locations. Therefore, it is interesting to conduct a study that covers more types of agro-tourists' motivations, especially in agricultural areas in different contexts. Also, agro-tourists' motivation in the same area in a different timeframe is another interesting aspect that should be explored. Acknowledgment This study has been supported by the School of Tourism Development, Maejo University, with the Research Number OT-62-017. References Ahn, Y.m Wooten, M. H., Norman, W. C., and McQuire, F. (2016). 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