The New Agritourism: Hosting Community and Tourists on Your Farm

by Barbara Berst Adams

Overview

Did industrial-era farming forget its major crop? Farmers worldwide have rediscovered a new crop: agritourism. From lavender micro farms to large corn acreages, some farmers are finding that by opening their farms to non-farming citizens, even for just a few weekends a year, they can receive a serious boost in revenue. Further, the general public begins to reconnect with the depth of farming again, which encourages them to offer and demand support for fair treatment of their local farms. This title takes readers interested in their own agritourism project from the origins of new agritourism today and on to gathering agritourism ideas beyond the general cookie cutter varieties that are unique and authentic to their farms. It then shows how to focus and organize their plan, keep it safe and legal, promote the enterprise, and continue to progress and stay prosperous in the years to come. The voices of many real farmers are heard here. Further, this title deeply profiles several very diverse agritourism working farms. Tourism is the fastest growing industry in the world and the fastest growing component of it is ecotourism, according to Ross Dowling, author of Ecotourism. Agritourism is an extremely popular segment of eco-tourism worldwide, because it is fueled by so many different trends coming from so many directions: The worldwide need for new revenue sources for farms, the need to keep farm revenue within the country/location, the boom in community members and tourists who want to experience farms and their connection to their food, the local food revival, the desire for new and unique ways to draw tourists to boost a region's tourism revenue, and the environmental movement. In this book, readers discover many ways that farms already have more valued assets for sale than they realized as a farm only destination. They discover that farmers can earn more income and keep their authentic farms thriving by operating an agritourism enterprise, and they also discover how farmers who are succeeding operate their successful agritourism enterprises, and how other farms can, also.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780963281449
Publisher:	New World Publishing, Auburn,CA
Publication date:	02/01/2008
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.52(d)

About the Author

Barbara Berst Adams writes feature articles on micro- and eco-farming for national magazines. She is the author of Micro Eco-Farming: Prospering from Backyard to Small-Acreage in Partnership with the Earth. She lives in Anacortes, Washington.