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1 
Received: 24th April 2020; revised: 9th July 2020; accepted: 25th July 2020
The Influence by the Elderly on 
Modernising the Organisation of Tourist 
Farms
Jože ZALAR1, Goran VUKOVIČ2, Rok OVSENIK3
1Višja strokovna šola za gostinstvo, velnes in turizem Bled, Slovenia, joze.zalar@vgs-bled.si
2University of Maribor, Faculty of Organizational Science, Kranj, goran.vokovic@um.si
3Alma Mater Europaea, Evropski center, Maribor, Slovenia, rok.ovsenik@gmail.com
Background and purpose: The demographic structure of the countryside shows that the number of people aged 
65 or more is increasing; however, they are still active and motivated for work and help the younger generation. The 
research aims at studying the influence of the elderly on the organisation of tourist farms; particularly the factors 
which affect the organisation of operation and modernisation thereof, such as the factors of inheritance, intergen-
erational organisational relationships and cooperation, the frequency of further training, inclusion of the elderly in 
tourist farms and the effect of the perceived changes in the organisation of subsidiary tourist activities on farms on 
the perception of modernisation. 
Methodology: A critical review of secondary literature sources has been made and the findings were summarised 
by applying the synthesis method. Further on, a survey was conducted on tourist farms in all Slovenian cohesion 
regions in order to collect the data which was then analysed by multiple regression method, applying IBM SPSS 
software. 
Results: Inheritance factors do not affect the perception of the modernisation of tourist farms in a statistically signif-
icant way; the same applies for intergenerational relationships for people, aged 51 or more while the influence was 
established for people under 51. Furthermore, the inclusion of the elderly does not have any influence neither does 
the frequency of further training while education and trainings themselves are important. It has been found out that 
the expansion of the offer, followed by the division of work, is the most significant for the perception of modernisation. 
Conclusion: Survey results show good relationships among the social actors and possible solutions which can be 
implemented in order to help the population of the Slovenian countryside concerned.
Key words: The elderly, Modernising the organisation, Tourism, Tourist farms, Organisation.
DOI: 10.2478/orga-2020-0017
1 Introduction
In these times of rapid changes and progress social sys-
tems are changing, followed by changing tourist systems 
(Holloway and Humphreys, 2019). Tourism is undergoing 
significant changes and facing new challenges, which re-
sult in new aspects regarding the operation of tourist sys-
tems. On the other hand, the demographic structure of the 
countryside is getting older, which means that the number 
of people aged 65 or more is increasing; however, most of 
them are still active and motivated for work and help the 
younger generation, in our case on tourist farms (Kerbler, 
2007; Program razvoja podeželja, 2015; Reid, Pezzi and 
Faggian, 2020). 
People in the countryside are constantly striving 
for maintaining good conditions for the development of 
economy on the farms; and it is those conditions that are 
extremely important for the future generations who will 
continue to work on the farm (Kerbler 2011, Kneževič 
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Organizacija, Volume 53 Issue 3, August 2020Research Papers
Hočevar 2013). Numerous families in the countryside con-
sist of several generations, where also the elderly have a 
significant role and consequently also the influence (Augé, 
2011); according to the same author: »Longer life expec-
tancy, transition from the usual living with three genera-
tions to four generations gradually lead to practical chang-
es in the regulation of social life.«
The problems in the countryside are connected with 
the decreasing number of families with several members. 
On the other hand, there are even as many as four gener-
ations on the same farm, we are facing the migration of 
young people to towns and migration of the elderly back 
to the countryside. All of the above causes deterioration 
of intergenerational relationships, disputes concerning in-
heritance (Kerbler 2011), lack of quality knowledge and 
further education and training (Burholt and Dobbs 2012; 
Glasgow and Brown 2012; Kneževič Hočevar 2013).
Consequently, knowing the influence of the elder-
ly on the modernisation and development of the organi-
sation of tourist farms is of key importance (Dwyer and 
Bressey 2007; Cigale, Lampič, Potočnik and Repe, 2014; 
Phillipson et al., 2018), which is emphasised also in the 
rural development programmes (Rural Development Pro-
gramme, 2015; NIC 2018). The whole world, particularly 
big countries such as the United States of America, Canada 
and Australia, is aware of the significance and relevance 
of those problems (Davis, Chrothers, Grant, Young and 
Smith, 2012; Beaulieu 2014).
Tourist system is operating more and more individu-
ally as mass tourism does not prevail anymore. The new 
way of organisation, affected by the individualisation of 
tourist services, requires the application of new technolo-
gies, new ways of management and, above all, a new way 
of training for tourism. This research aims at studying the 
influence of the elderly on modernising the organisation of 
tourist farms in Slovenia; particularly how the factors of 
inheritance, quality of intergenerational organisational re-
lationships, further training, social inclusion of the elderly 
and the perceived changes in the organisation of subsidiary 
tourist activities on farms affect the perception of the mod-
ernisation of tourist farms.
2 Theoretical background
The number of people aged 65 or more who are still active 
and motivated for work and help the younger generation 
on tourist farms is increasing (Kerbler, 2007; Program 
razvoja podeželja, 2015; Reid, Pezzi and Faggian, 2020). 
Consequently, it is very important to know the influence 
of the elderly on modernising the organisation of tourist 
farms and therefore four pillars have been established as 
the factors which affect the organisation of operation and 
modernisation thereof. These are as follows:  transfer of 
ownership and inheritance, intergenerational organisation-
al relationships and cooperation, further training and social 
inclusion of the elderly in tourist farms. 
Transfer of ownership and inheritance – In the past 
(before land reform in 1848) various rules applied to in-
heriting farms, all sharing the same interest of the govern-
ment or the landlord that farms would not be fragmented. 
Therefore rules on the inheritance of farms did not favour 
the division of property or they even prevented it by grant-
ing the right to succeed only to one child of the deceased 
(Kambič, 2007). It is also interesting that the “wife of the 
deceased person was entitled only to the movable property 
in the house, which was a very common custom in the old 
Austro-Hungarian lands« (Kambič, 2007). While in Eu-
rope the change of generations or transfer of ownership in 
case of non-agricultural SMEs often means closing down 
or sale of the enterprise (e.g. Croatia 35%, Finland 70%) 
(Alpeza, Tall, & Mezulić Juric 2018), this is not usually the 
case in the transfer of the ownership of farms.
Nowadays, Inheritance of Agricultural Holdings Act 
regulates the inheritance of agricultural land in the Repub-
lic of Slovenia. It is laid down in Article 7 of the said Act: 
The agricultural holding shall be inherited by the statutory 
heir under the general inheritance regulations who plans 
to cultivate the agricultural land, and who is selected by 
agreement by all the heirs; in case the agreement referred 
to in the preceding indent cannot be reached, the inher-
itance priority shall be held by the spouse of the deceased 
and the children who are training or have trained in the 
field of agricultural or forest activity. In case there are sev-
eral such persons, the priority shall be held by those who 
are or have been growing up on the farm and have con-
tributed by their work or earning to maintaining or devel-
opment of the farm. In case of equal conditions, the prec-
edence in inheriting the protected farm shall be held by 
the spouse of the deceased. In case the whole or a part of 
the protected farm comes from the surviving spouse of the 
deceased, that spouse and the children the spouse has with 
the deceased, shall have precedence from other children of 
the deceased; (...).« (Inheritance of Agricultural Holdings 
Act, 1995). 
In order to maintain the integrity of agricultural land 
the Inheritance of Agricultural Holdings Act Article 5 lays 
down also that “as a rule, a protected farm shall be inherit-
ed by one heir only. The farm may be inherited by several 
heirs only in case the conditions referred to in that Act are 
met.« (Inheritance of Agricultural Holdings Act, 1995).
Intergenerational organisational relationships and co-
operation – According to (Dimovski and Žnidaršič, 2007) 
»It is not rare today that four generations live together. 
Due to low natality children are surrounded by more adults 
and elderly people”. Results of an analysis, conducted by 
Kneževič-Hočevar (2013) on farms in Prekmurje (north-
east Slovenia), show that most interviewees are of the 
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Organizacija, Volume 53 Issue 3, August 2020Research Papers
opinion that it is an advantage when young and older peo-
ple live together, provided they get on well.  Older gener-
ation stated that among the advantages there is safety and 
care when they get older, mutual intergenerational learning 
and the feeling that you always get help when you need it. 
Social relationships and intergenerational communica-
tion are of key importance for several generations to live 
together. Ramovš and Slana (2010) point out the lack in 
mutual contacts and quality communication, particularly 
between the young and older generation. The above are 
essential in order to strengthen intergenerational solidar-
ity and quality aging in the future. Human solidarity is 
developing and strengthening in parallel with enhancing 
the quality of intergenerational communication.  All those 
relationships are required for good cooperation and mod-
ernising the organisation of tourist farms (de Bel, Kalmijn 
and van Dujin, 2019).
Education – The strategy of lifelong learning is signif-
icant for quality development of knowledge and qualifi-
cation in the countryside. People in the countryside, who 
are engaged in subsidiary tourist activities on the farm, are 
constantly dealing with tasks and problems they did not 
have prior to starting up the activity. Nowadays, lifelong 
learning is required as a development concept, upgrading 
education, developed and created in the past, and provides 
a new, paradigmatic shift also for schooling of the youth or 
formal initial education (Bahçelerli, 2018).
In the countryside, particularly on tourist farms, life-
long learning is essential and therefore we want to em-
phasise the important learning objectives. It is of extreme 
importance for marketing of products and communication 
with the environment and provides a competitive advan-
tage in ever increasing competition.   Specific knowledge, 
required for successful production and processing of foods, 
and accommodation and food service activities, demands 
the contents of education in all fields of work on a tourist 
farm for all age groups to be adapted. They also have to 
include the programmes of intergenerational cooperation 
(Kump and Jelenc-Krašovec, 2005; Pažek, Majkovič and 
Borec, 2005)  
Social inclusion of the elderly on tourist farms – Ed-
ucational and career centres as social networks deal with 
social inclusion of the tourist farm members. Social envi-
ronment monitoring is important as members of all gener-
ations on the farm are aware of the responsibility for active 
participation at all levels of educational and social and cul-
tural activities. The knowledge and skills create the organ-
isational structure and adapting to the specifics of work 
by individual family members.  In the countryside, there 
are good conditions for the involvement of the elderly in 
various societies. This strengthens the feeling of responsi-
bility and importance also in later periods of life. There is 
some dissatisfaction felt among young people regarding 
the status in the family; due to fear older members are too 
late to transfer the ownership of the property to younger 
generation. This often leads to family disputes concerning 
inheritance and continuation of the family holding (Al-
banese and Bocci, 2019).
An important topic which should contribute to further 
training and development of public policy, associated with 
the social inclusion of the elderly, deals with how different 
generations can participate and contribute to social inclu-
sion and benefit from them. The elderly themselves are a 
heterogeneous group. This is shown also in the vitality and 
productive engagement of the generation in the third age 
group (e.g. 65–84 years of age), contrary to the propor-
tionally higher limitations of dependence and health in the 
fourth age group (e.g. 85 and more years of age). Creative 
approaches to social inclusion should be focused on how 
voluntary work by the younger elderly can best support so-
cial inclusion and autonomy of the oldest (Windsor, Curtis 
and Luszcz, 2016).
The biggest problems are the basic needs and wishes 
of the elderly in rural areas where the access or departure 
from home is more difficult, particularly in winter. This 
affects the mobility at home and outside or travelling and 
driving. In rural areas it is essential to drive in order to 
go to the doctor, cultural institutions or shops as public 
transport is rare. If the elderly are not able to drive, they 
become dependent on their families, neighbours or service 
providers. This is particularly true in winter time when 
there is a lot of snow in certain areas. The second problem 
are supporting services such as deliveries, health care sup-
port, and similar (Biniok, Menke and Selke, 2018).
3 Research questions and 
hypothesis
For the research purposes four research questions have 
been posed, explained and justified below:
RQ1: »How do inheritance factors affect the percep-
tion of the tourist farm modernisation?«
According to numerous authors the farms where the 
ownership was transferred earlier, are more modernised 
than those subject to later transfer of ownership or those 
where the ownership has not been transferred yet; parents 
often transfer their property to their successors late and the 
future heirs do not dare or are not interested in investing 
their capital or knowledge if they are not completely sure 
they will inherit the farm (Fennell, Phillipson and Evers, 
1988; Gosar, 1998; Pečjak, 1998). 
RQ2: »How does the quality of intergenerational rela-
tionships with the elderly in the family affect the percep-
tion of the tourist farm modernisation?« 
There are as many as four generations living in the 
same household (Kerbler, 2011; Burholt and Dobbs, 2012; 
Glasgow and Brown, 2012). In such cases the relationships 
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Organizacija, Volume 53 Issue 3, August 2020Research Papers
concern young, middle and old generations and in those 
family businesses cooperation is of key importance for the 
modernisation of the organisation itself (Brandth and Hau-
gen, 2012; Kneževič-Hočevar, 2013; Li, Mi and Zhang, 
2020). It is assumed that the better the intergenerational 
relationships the better the modernisation of the organisa-
tion of tourist farms.
RQ3: »How does the frequency of further training for 
the needs of subsidiary activity affect the perception of the 
tourist farm modernisation?«
Further training and lifelong learning are important as 
in the modern world the progress of various technologies 
is the fastest ever seen; it strengthens reasonable dialogues 
of two or even three age generations in the family (Amo-
ah and Baum, 1997; Kump and Jelenc-Krašovec, 2010; 
Simándi, 2018).
RQ4: »How does the inclusion of the elderly in the af-
fect the perception of the tourist farm modernisation?
Social inclusion of the older generation in the social 
and cultural life is of key importance for maintaining their 
physical, psychological and mental fitness (Biniok, Menke 
and Selke, 2018; Windsor, Curtis and Luszcz, 2016).
RQ4: »Which changes have the highest  effect on the 
perception of the tourist farm modernisation?«
4 Methodology
4.1 Research approach
A combined research approach was applied for the needs 
of the research. A critical review of secondary literature 
sources has been made and the findings were summarised 
by applying the synthesis method. Further on, a quantita-
tive research, namely a survey was conducted on tourist 
farms in all Slovenian cohesion. The survey was conduct-
ed on web portal https://www.1ka.si  and in printed forms, 
sent to respondents with the help of the agricultural coun-
sellors and employees at the Association of Tourist Farms 
of Slovenia. The survey questionnaire was emailed to 738 
units. These were farms with registered subsidiary tourist 
activity on the farm, and activities, associated with the tra-
ditional knowledge on the farm, services or products. The 
email was received by 585 respondents, opened by 546 
people, and 131 respondents answered the questions – val-
ues are missing in some questions as not all the respond-
ents answered all the questions.
Where possible, the results are presented compara-
tively, according to the young or the older generation of 
the tourist farm members. Holders of the tourist farms as 
well as their spouses and their descendants were surveyed. 
Statistical analysis under IBM SPSS software, multiple 
regression analysis and calculation of the Spearman cor-
relation coefficient were applied in order to verify the hy-
pothesis below.
4.2 Presentation of the sample
Representatives of family farms from all 12 Slovenian 
regions participated in the research. Age structure of the 
respondents is as follows: 58.0% of the respondents were 
between 31 and 50 years old, and the lowest sample (3.8 
%) were people, aged 65 or more. 5.3% of respondents 
were between 16 and 30 while the sample of people aged 
between 51 and 65 accounts for 32.1%, one person did 
not answer. 50.4% of respondents were female and 36.6% 
male; 17 people did not answer. 
Education structure of the sample was as follows: 
17.6% of respondents completed primary or vocational 
school, while the most (35.1%) finished secondary school. 
11.5% respondents completed short-cycle college, 4.61 % 
professional college, 6.1 % higher education, 10.7% uni-
versity education, and 2.3% have a master’s degree. 
Most respondents live in partnership, either married 
(77.1%) or in cohabitation (14.5%). Only 3.1% are single, 
2.3% widowed, 1.5% are in a relationship but they do not 
live with their partners, two respondents did not answer. 
Most respondents have a decisive role on the farm as 
they are either holders of subsidiary activity (74.89%) or 
owners and heads of the holding (41.2 %). Nearly a tenth 
of the respondents are future heirs of the farm (8.4%) 
while 6.1% are already the heirs. Others indicated other 
roles such as the co-owner of the farm (8.4%), housewife 
or mother of the holder of the subsidiary activity. 
5 Results
Dependent variable “perception of the tourist farm mod-
ernisation” and the following independent variables: “in-
heritance factors”, “quality of intergenerational relation-
ships with the elderly”, “frequency of further training for 
the needs of subsidiary activity”, “inclusion of the elder-
ly”, and “modernisation changes” were established.
 Multiple regression analysis was applied to verify 
whether there are positive and statistically significant links 
between the inheritance factors and perception of the tour-
ist farm modernisation. As shown in Table 1, they were not 
recognised.
Multiple regression analysis was applied to verify 
whether there are positive and statistically significant links 
between the quality of intergenerational relationships with 
the elderly in the family and perception of the tourist farm 
modernisation, where the respondents were divided into 
two groups according to their age – up to 50 years of age 
and 51 or more. As shown in Tables 2a and 2b, they were 
not recognised in the case of the elderly while it was recog-
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Organizacija, Volume 53 Issue 3, August 2020Research Papers
nised in the group up to 50 years of age, which shows that 
the better the intergenerational relationships with the el-
derly in the family, the higher the perception of the tourist 
farm modernisation is (beta is 0.217 and it is statistically 
significant at the rate of 0.052).
Spearman correlation coefficient was applied to verify 
whether there are positive and statistically significant links 
between the frequency of further training for the needs of 
subsidiary activity  and perception of the tourist farm mod-
ernisation. As shown in Table 3, the link is not statistically 
significant.
Multiple regression analysis was applied to verify 
whether there are positive and statistically significant links 
between the inclusion of the elderly and perception of the 
tourist farm modernisation. As shown in Table 4, they 
were not recognised.
Spearman correlation coefficient was applied to verify 
which changes have the highest and statistically significant 
influence on the perception of the tourist farm modernisa-
tion. As shown in Table 5, there are positive and statisti-
cally significant links between the perception of the tourist 
farm modernisation and: changes in the organisation of 
farm work, education and training, expansion of the offer 
at the farm, enhanced cooperation by all family members, 
and sharing of work in the family.
Table 1: Multiple regression for RQ1
Unstandardized Coefficients
Standardized 
Coefficients
Model B Std. Error Beta t Sig.
(Constant) 3,176 ,448 7,087 ,000
Early transfer of property to the heir 
is extremely important
-,018 ,092 -,021 -,193 ,847
Planned way of inheritance is ex-
tremely important
,145 ,101 ,162 1,442 ,152
We follow the tradition that the heir 
is the first-born son or daughter if 
there is no son
-,048 ,064 -,072 -,750 ,455
Inheritance causes stress and dis-
putes in the family
,020 ,070 ,033 ,282 ,779
Brothers and sisters are on bad terms 
due to inheritance
,009 ,067 ,015 ,128 ,898
Appropriate inheritance can regulate 
the relationships in the family
,010 ,063 ,016 ,161 ,872
a. Dependent Variable: Perception of the tourist farm modernisation
Table 2a: Multiple regression for RQ2
Model
B
Unstandardized Coefficients
Standardized 
Coefficients
t Sig.Std. Error Beta
1 (Constant) 3,681 ,429 8,582 ,000
Intergenerational 
relationships with 
the elderly in the 
family – 51 years 
and more
-,005 ,099 -,009 -,054 ,957
a. Dependent Variable: Perception of the tourist farm modernisation
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Organizacija, Volume 53 Issue 3, August 2020Research Papers
Table 2b: Multiple regression for RQ2
Model
B
Unstandardized Coefficients
Standardized 
Coefficients
t Sig.Std. Error Beta
1 (Constant) 3,237 ,274 11,815 ,000
Intergenerational 
relationships with 
the elderly in the 
family – up to 50 
years of age
,130 ,066 ,217 1,973 ,052
a. Dependent Variable: Perception of the tourist farm modernisation
Table 3: Spearman correlation coefficient for RQ3
Frequency of further 
training for the needs of 
subsidiary activity
Spearman’s rho Perception of the tourist farm mod-
ernisation
Correlation Coefficient -,025
Sig. (2-t/iled) ,788
n 118
Table 4: Multiple regression for RQ4
Model
B
Unstandardized Coefficients
Standardized 
Coefficients
t Sig.Std. Error Beta
1 (Constant) 3,840 ,519 7,402 ,000
The elderly are good mentors at 
work
,154 ,118 ,192 1,307 ,195
They strongly influence our de-
cisions
-,154 ,117 -,173 -1,321 ,191
Quality work would not be pos-
sible without parents’ advice 
and cooperation
,041 ,108 ,061 ,382 ,703
We would not have decided for 
the subsidiary activity at our 
farm without the material and 
financial basis, created by our 
parents
-,091 ,086 -,144 -1,066 ,290
Our parents’ opinions do not 
help in the organisation of work
,096 ,104 ,138 ,920 ,361
Parents are completely exclud-
ed from the subsidiary activity
-,104 ,093 -,175 -1,113 ,269
a. Dependent Variable: Perception of the tourist farm modernisation
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Organizacija, Volume 53 Issue 3, August 2020Research Papers
6 Discussion and conclusion
The problems of the change of generations, inheritance 
and intergenerational relationships on the farm are shown 
as good examples of developing social and economic pow-
er of the topic concerned. As it has been mentioned, tourist 
farms are facing numerous challenges or problems such 
as rapid changes and progress where social systems are 
changing, followed by changing tourist systems (Hollo-
way and Humphreys, 2019; Poslad et al., 2001). 
On the other hand, the number of people aged 65 or 
more who are still active and motivated for work and 
help the younger generation on tourist farms is increasing 
(Kerbler, 2007; Program razvoja podeželja, 2015; Reid, 
Pezzi and Faggian, 2020).  Consequently, it is important 
to find out the influence of the elderly on the organisation 
of tourist farms according to four pillars which are as fol-
lows: transfer of ownership and inheritance, intergenera-
tional organisational relationships and cooperation, further 
training and social inclusion of the elderly in tourist farms.
It follows from the research that the inheritance factors 
themselves do not affect the perception of the tourist farm 
modernisation. It was established in the previous qualita-
tive research, conducted by Zalar (2014), that in eastern re-
gions parents decide to transfer the ownership to the heirs 
earlier than in western regions. It is common in western re-
gions that the heirs divide the property only after their par-
ents have died and they agree with that. This often leads to 
disputes and destruction of the family. Our research does 
not confirm the link between earlier transfer of property to 
the heir and the perception of tourist farm modernisation. 
It was found out that in case of people aged 51 and 
more intergenerational relationships on tourist farms do 
not affect organisation modernisation or the introduction 
of a new paradigm of relationships on the tourist farms, 
while such effect is present in case of people under the age 
of 50; the better the relationships, the more modernised the 
organisation. It follows from the above that the younger 
and the older generation get on well in all aspects. Con-
sequently, at the time of the research tourist farms were 
modernised well. There are occasional disputes and argu-
ments in families but that does not affect the modernisation 
of organisation or renovation of farm and accommodation 
facilities. It is a positive influence of intergenerational re-
lationships on the self-assessment of the organisation mod-
ernisation. The better the relationships, the higher the per-
ception of the younger that the organisation of their farm 
or subsidiary activity is modernised. 
In spite of the fact that the frequency of further training 
does not affect the perception of tourist farm modernisa-
tion in a statistically significant way, education and train-
ing are important and they have a statistically significant 
positive contribution to the perception of tourist farm mod-
ernisation. Social inclusion of the elderly in various social 
activities does not affect the modernisation of the tourist 
farm organisation. It regards mainly general knowledge of 
the elderly about the current topical social issues.  In this 
way, the elderly have more insight in the problems and 
understanding of the younger generation when faced with 
organisational and business decisions and plans. That con-
tributes to intergenerational coexistence and life in fami-
lies where even up to four generations live in one or two 
households on the same farm. 
Social inclusion of the elderly affects only their men-
tal and health condition and quality spending of free time 
they have more of than the active younger generation. The 
latter, particularly the female part of the family, have to go 
to work and be engaged in the subsidiary activity at home. 
The elderly are often only moral and financial support-
ers of the family organisation of the farm operation. This 
means mutual influence between the elderly and younger 
generation. In this case, the elderly do not have a direct 
influence on the modernisation of the organisation.
We would like to point out the factors which positively 
and statistically significantly affect the perception of the 
tourist farm modernisation, which are as follows:  expan-
sion of the offer at the farm, sharing of work in the family, 
changes in the organisation of farm work, enhanced coop-
eration by all family members, and education and training.
It has been found out that the influence of the moderni-
sation of the organisation is mainly moral, which is reflect-
ed particularly in good intergenerational relationships and 
financial support to young generation who is starting their 
career path. Survey results show good relationships among 
the social actors and possible solutions which can be im-
plemented in order to help the population of the Slovenian 
countryside concerned.
In the field concerned, attention should be paid to main-
taining and development of social actors who strive for the 
best possible overall image of the organisational structure 
of the subsidiary activity on the farm.  Comparison of the 
theoretical background and the research topic gave insight 
in the excellence in improving organisational capabilities 
of tourist farms in Slovenian countryside. The tasks and 
objectives are to strive for maintaining the organisational 
capabilities of tourist farms and keeping rural population 
in the countryside by encouraging good economic and so-
cial position of the inhabitants.
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Jože Zalar, Master of Tourism, is a lecturer at Vocational 
College of Hospitality, Wellness and Tourism in 
Bled, Slovenia. His professional focus is gastronomy 
and tourism development in Slovenia, especially 
rural tourism.  He is author of several scientific and 
professional works and author of two monographs 
on catering, wellness and tourism. He is participates 
in several projects of Local Action Groups in Slovenia 
and the European Innovation Partnership. His current 
research interests are development of tourist farms, 
education for complementary activities on farms, social 
inclusion of the elderly, and intergenerational relations.
Goran Vukovič, PhD, is full professor at the Faculty 
of Organisational Sciences, University of Maribor.  He 
is a qualified university teacher in the area of human 
resources and a qualified university teacher in the area 
of »Marketing«. He also has more than fifteen years 
of work experience in the area of functional education 
and consultancy. Dr Vukovič is a consultant in the 
areas of human resources, marketing and procurement 
in the profit and non-profit sectors of the economy. 
Furthermore, he is the author of many authentic 
scientific papers, author and co-author of many books, 
editor, critic, member of the editorial council for the 
journal »Iskanja«.
Rok Ovsenik, PhD, full professor of Tourist Destination 
Management at Faculty of Organizational studies 
in Novo mesto, is engaged in education, research, 
management and consulting activities in area of 
tourism management on the national and international 
level. He is author and co-author of several documents 
focusing tourism strategies, which represented a basis 
for the growth of Slovenian receptive tourism in 2007-
2011. He is author or co-author of 6 monographies 
and many scientific articles published in recognized 
research journals. His current research interests are 
destination management, measurement of the quality 
of tourist services, and leisure time and sport activities 
management.
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Organizacija, Volume 53 Issue 3, August 2020Research Papers
Vpliv starejših odraslih na posodabljanje organizacije turističnih kmetij Slovenije
Ozadje in namen: Demografska struktura podeželja stara; vedno več je ljudi, ki so stari 65 ali več let, in so še vedno 
aktivni in motivirani za delo ter pomagajo mlajši generaciji. Cilj raziskave je proučiti vplive starejših odraslih na or-
ganizacijo turističnih kmetij, predvsem dejavnike vpliva na samo organizacijo poslovanja in njeno posodabljanje, kot 
so dejavniki dedovanja, medgeneracijski organizacijski odnosi in sodelovanje, pogostost dodatnega izobraževanja, 
vključenost starejših na turističnih kmetijah ter vpliv percipiranih sprememb organizacije dopolnilne turistične dejav-
nosti na kmetiji na dojemanje posodobljenosti. 
Metodologija: Izdelali smo kritičen pregled sekundarnih virov literature in na osnovi metode sintez strnili ugotovitve. 
V nadaljevanju smo z anketo na turističnih kmetijah v vseh kohezijskih regijah Slovenije zbrali podatke in jih analizi-
rali z metodami multiple regresije, ker smo uporabili program IBM SPSS. 
Rezultati: Dejavniki dedovanja ne vplivajo statistično značilno na dojemanje posodobljenosti turističnih kmetij, po-
dobno velja tudi za medgeneracijske odnose pri starejših od 51 let, vendar pa smo ugotovili vpliv pri mlajših od 51 
let. Vključenost starejših prav tako ne vpliva, enako je s pogostostjo dodatnih izobraževanj, so pa pomembna sama 
izobraževanja in usposabljanja. Ugotovili smo, da ima največji vpliv na dojemanje posodobljenosti širitev ponudbe, 
kateri sledi delitev dela. 
Zaključek: Rezultati raziskave nakazujejo dobre odnose med socialnimi akterji in možne rešitve, ki jih bo mogoče 
implementirati v obravnavano področje, da bi z njimi pomagali obravnavani populaciji slovenskega podeželja.
Ključne besede: Starejši odrasli, Posodabljanje organizacije, Turizem, Turistična kmetija, Organizacija.