Table of Contents: The New Agritourism
Preface
Agritourism: Is it really new? Can you benefit from it today?
Exploring the Options: A treasury of agritourism possibilities
A Treasury of Farmstay, Workshop, Demonstration, & Festival Themes
Growth and Pricing
Surfing Goat Dairy:
Agritourism Customer Service
Choosing Agritourism Activities
The Business Plan
Starting accidentally on purpose
Drawing a roadmap for success
Making the roadmap
Getting started
Continued evaluation and feedback
Starting the process of gathering feedback
Gathering the feedback
Grow slowly and steadily: How one farm did it
Grow slowly and steadily …cont’d
Resources for business plan templates, sample business plans, business plan workshops, and business advisors and mentors.
Rules, Regulations & Liability Concerns
Zoning, permits and licenses
Liability insurance
Searching for an attorney
Help from your local agriculture extension agent
Choosing A Business Structure
Your own preliminary study
Consider a land trust
Breaking In: The single farm festival or open house as a starting point
Planning the event
Be clear on our specific goals for your event.
Devise a theme and title for the event
Choose the date for the event
Vendors
Organizing festival help
Now you’re ready to create more detailed plans for setting up the festival:
Afterwards
Promoting the Farm: An overview of possibilities
Attracting the media
The farm open house or one-time festival
Fliers
Brochures and business cards
Online marketing
Signs and curb appeal
Networking with larger entities
The farm journal
Paid advertising
Promoting with positive customer feedback
Attracting the media
Ride elevators… or at least think out of the box
Promotional help close to home
Online Marketing
The website
The E-Newsletter
The weblog or “blog”
Online centers where your farm may qualify for a listing
Chapter Contacts
Collecting addresses for news releases
Free Promotion
Making the news release professional
The Headline
Follow-up
Is There Such A Thing As Too Much Media?
Template for Printed News Release
Fictional News Release
The Farm Journal
What about venting… gossip… and the like?
Setting up a personal journaling routine
Starting points and prompts
Sharing the journal with farm customers
Sharing your journal via your computer
Networking With Larger Organizations
What are the benefits?
What to watch out for
The Slow Food Movement
Regional Flavor
Signs & Curb Appeal
Size and location – What to consider
RegulationsDesigning, style and practical materials
Size
Materials
Handmade, Quick Sign Shop, or Professionally Custom Made?
More Design Tips
Signs provided by larger entities
Curb Appeal and Special Touches
Agritourism with an Educational Emphasis
On-Farm education for school children
Education for adults
Continuing education units
Internships
Agritourism and the B&B: You don’t have to own a renovated Victorian…
Can you pitch a tent?
Could the wall tent idea work for you?
Finding customers for the farm B&B
The business of B&B
Selling value-added products
Other alternative forms of guest accommodations
Themes and variations for the new B&B to generate word-of-mouth publicity
Hosting Professional Chefs
Working directly with chefs
Hosting chefs on your own farm
On-farm chef schools
Finding Chefs
Each connection strengthens the whole
Opening the doors to selling to restaurants
The Dairy: From cheese-making classes to school tours
A brief history of the farms
The beginnings of agritourism
The open houses
Tours by appointment
Cheesemaking classes
Marketing the agritourism
Business planning, safety, and liability
The agritourism payoff
Beyond wagon rides: Healing arts on the farm, and a fresh look at horses and petting zoos
Day spa on a lavender farm
Sharing the promotion with the farm and other businesses
Human interaction with animals, including horses. Safety issues, and a new look at the “petting zoo.”
Safety and liability issues
When a Day Spa or Healing Center Rents Space on your Farm
Allowing success to breed more success while growing gradually
Seasonal Agritourism Events
Diversified promotion
Pricing and operating on-farm events
The agritourism payoff
Heirloom melons as an agritourism draw
Sharing melons and selling them to others
Choosing melons for your patch
Epilogue: Agritourism around the world
The Fertile Skagit Valley, USA Pacific Northwest
The French Countryside
The Island of Crete
Cape Town, South Africa
Concluding thoughts
Letter from Di