Agritourism’s a key player
A COMBINATION of Cassowary Coast’s greatest resources is being labelled as the solution to the region’s ageing agriculture population and struggling tourism industry.
A report presented by the Queensland Farmers Federation to Minister Agriculture Industry Development and Fisheries Mark Furner in May identified agritourism as a key player in the state’s regional economies.
Cassowary Coast’s Division 6 councillor and sugarcane farmer Kylie Farinelli said statelevel projects were now underway aimed at helping producers identify how they could add tourism experiences to their agribusiness with the Wet Tropics region “on their radar”.
“It’s only early days but it’s about helping our producers realise the opportunity to diversify their income,” Ms Farinelli said.
“We have a lot of sugarcane farmers and for example it might be matter of during the season having people come on the farm and watch harvesting take place. It could be tours, or just a farmer telling their story.
“We take it for granted because we see it everyday. But for people in metro areas, they find it quite fascinating. “
She said a combination of farming and tourism could help safeguard the region’s $800 million agriculture industry with Tourism Research Australia reporting 7 million visitors experienced agritourism across Australia last year.
“Farmers in our region are ageing. This an opportunity to keep young people on our land, for parents to keep their kids interested in agriculture in a new way.
“And if a farmer has a bad season, or there’s a natural disaster, they’ve got another way to supplement some income.
“Agritourism also allows regional economies to showcase what’s good about the region, its unique growing conditions, and natural resources and provides a visitor drawcard from which other regional tourism businesses and experiences can benefit.”
Ms Farinelli said she wanted the council to play an advocacy role to link local farmers with agritourism mentors, help provide agribusiness expansion toolkits and provide infrastructure support if required.
“From a local government perspective, the report identifies that planning support will be required to permit tourism infrastructure to be constructed on farms and that agritourism must be classified as an agricultural activity under local and state planning laws.”