Sustainable Tourism Law

64 SUSTAINABLE TOURISM LAW A new definition of agricultural entrepreneur In recent years, as we have seen, Tourism Law has created a new contract and a new tort. But tourism has propagated its influence to agricultural law and commercial law by correcting the traditional notion of a farming entrepreneur. As is well known, the Italian Civil Code distinguishes between agricultural entrepreneurs (art. 2135) and business entrepreneurs. The notion is given by the legislator itself, which defines the agricultural activity in art. 2135. To the traditional activities of the agricultural entrepreneur – cultivation of the agricultural fund, forestry, cattle, breeding – Tourism Law has added agritourism activities. A new agricultural activity: agritourism (farm holiday) Having changed the notion of agricultural entrepreneur, Tourism Law has created a new figure or, if preferable, a new institute: the farm holiday. The new figure combines traditional agricultural activities with tourism, expanding the offer and conciliating the tourist activities with nature. It is tourism, or rather, a stay that takes place inside or near an agricultural activity. In Italy, agritourism is now governed by Law of 20 February 2006, no. 96. Art.1 defines agritourism as follows: “ Agritourism activities are the reception and hospitality activities carried out by the agricultural entrepreneurs referred to in Article 2135 of the Italian Civil Code, including in the form of capital companies or persons, or associated with each other, through the use of their own business in connection with the farming, forestry and animal breeding activities ”. The Law considers as agritourism activities: a) providing hospitality in accommodations or in open spaces for campers; b) administering meals and beverages consisting mainly of the products generated by the agricultural entrepreneur and products from local farms, including alcoholic and super-alcoholic products, with preference for typical products characterized by DOP, IGP, IGT, DOC and DOCG or included in the national list of traditional agri-food products, as specified in Article 4 of the same law; c) organizing tastings of farm products, including wine; d) organizing, also outside the land assets, recreational, cultural, educational, sporting, hiking and hippo-tourism, included by means of agreements with the local authorities, aimed at the exploitation of the territory and rural heritage.