ABSTRACT:

The objective of this research is to identify the orchard owner’s knowledge related to practices for developing agritourism in the Sulaimaniah-Halabja governorates. The research population consisted of the 1620 Orchard Owners. A random sample of 20% was selected and distributed in the previous government, which was 324 respondents. This research used a descriptive design. To achieve this objective, a questionnaire was utilized as an instrument for data collection. The questionnaire consists of two parts: the first part includes demographic characteristics of participants; the second part consists of 5 practice fields (Agritourism Product Development, Infrastructure Improvement, Promotion and Marketing, Agriculture Resource Development, and Environment Protection). Operations for validity and reliability were completed once the research tool was developed and the data were gathered. To analyze this data, frequency, percentage, weighted mean, and distribution as statistical tools were used by SPSS. Research results revealed that most of Orchard's owners in the research areas tend to be middle-aged and mature and also have a higher education level, and the majority of orchard owners’ knowledge of practices for developing agritourism is high, and the marketing and promotion field ranked first. The researcher has recommended that orchard owners should engage more in agritourism activities and training courses and workshops in the agritourism field, especially those processes connected to the construction of tourism farms that will help them to increase their knowledge and awareness of the agritourism industry to achieve their goals and target markets. The Ministry of Agriculture and the relevant ministries in the Kurdistan Region should introduce these types of farms for agritourism and play a role in introducing them to tourists.