Agritourism can play a big role in Covid revival
D e s p i t e t h e h o s p i t a l i t y and tourism sectors being among the hardest hit by the Covid crisis, agritourism is set to play a key role in helping the population, the country and the economy recover from the traumas of the pandemic.
That was the claim put forward at a major on-line conference on the future of this fast developing sector of rural business.
I t a d d e d t h a t , w i t h a change of mindset, agrit o u r i s m c o u l d h e l p t h e farming sector survive the threats of Brexit and postcovid recession.
D u n d e e f a r m e r, C a r o - line Miller, who runs The Hideaway Experience on the family farm at Auchterhouse, has l e d e f f o r t s t o raise the profile of agritourism in Scotland.
She said that the pandemi c h a d n o t o n l y b r o u g h t more people to the countryside but had also raised demand to source pro ducts which were natural, l o c a l a n d wh i c h h e l p e d i m p r o v e b o t h p h y s i c a l and mental wellbeing at a time when climate change worries were also encouraging people to avoid distant travel.
“A n d wh i l e t h e r e h ave been some instances of the increase in numbers com
ing to the countryside causing issues during the pandemic, getting them on-farm gives us a huge opportunity to inform and educate them on the real s t o r y b e h i n d t h e f a r m i n g industr y,” Miller told the 140 delegates who tuned into the conference.
She said that this also opened opportunities for agritourism to lead a green recovery during a time of great uncertainty for many of the more traditional farm income streams.
“Taking sheep as an example – if you breed and sell a sheep you can get one source o f i n c o m e wh i c h i s h i g h l y dependant on the market conditions. But agritrousim lets the farmer get so much more out of that one sheep – they can feature in farm tours, lambing events, sheepdog demonstrations and even a hearty meal at the end of the day – adding so much more value to that one sheep.”
N F U S c o t l a n d p r e s i d e n t , Andrew Mccornick told the conference that the grow th of agritourism had huge public relations potential to show how well farmers look after their animals, the environment and the countryside.
“G e t t i n g p e o p l e o n t o f a r m s c a n g i v e u s t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o d i s c u s s w h a t w e ’ r e d o i n g t o a d d r e s s c l i ma t e c h a n g e a n d a l l ow p e o p l e t o s e e for themselves what actually goes on on farms can generate a huge amount of trust.”
He also recognised the role agritourism offers for business development.
“It can allow young people to develop their own businesses and manage - ment skills –making succ e s s i o n p l a n n i n g e a s i e r when it is time for the business to change hands.”
H a n s E mb a c h e r, c h i e f executive of the Austrian Farming Holiday Association outlined the success of agritourism in his country.
He said that farm holi - days tended to draw from within a nation – but were n o t v i e we d s i m p l y a s a cheap holiday.
“R e s e a r c h h a s s h o w n that the majorit y of farm holidays are taken by educ a t e d p e o p l e l o o k i n g t o experience real farm life – so much so that many of our holidaymakers spend t i m e h e l p i n g t h e f a r m - er with his work in their fields and with their animals during their stay.”