Hi, are you a farmer or farm owner looking to diversify your income streams while bringing people closer to nature at the same time? If so, starting an agritourism business on your farm might be the perfect venture for you.
My name is Stephen Loke and I have been running a successful agritourism business on my durian farm and benefitting a lot through the extra income an agritourism business brings. My farm, Bloopy Durians attracts visitors from all over the world.
Here are some benefits of starting an agritourism business:
Get an extra income
Diversify your income
Sometimes your agritourism business can make 2-10 times your crop sales
Attract visitors from all over the world
Make your farm famous
Educate the public about agriculture
Agritourism blends agriculture with tourism, offering visitors unique rural experiences while providing farmers with additional revenue opportunities.
According to Fortune Business Insights, global agritourism is valued at USD 69.24 Billion in 2019 and this figure is expected to grow to USD 197.37 Billion in 2032.
If you start to learn how to start an agritourism business now, you just might be able to get a profitable share of this pie.
In this guide, I will walk you through the steps to kickstart your agritourism business and turn your farm into a thriving destination.
Step 1: Identify Your Farm's Unique Selling Point
Before delving into the world of agritourism, take some time to identify what makes your farm special.
This will be your unique selling point.
What are some things that make you stand out from the competition?
Do you have:
breathtaking scenery,
amazing landscapes,
an organic produce range,
the perfect location for outdoor activities
farm tours
fruits or vegetables
farm animals to play with
Understanding your farm's unique selling point will help you tailor your agritourism offerings and attract the right audience.
My own story of setting up an agritourism business was born out of necessity.
You see, prior to my agritourism business, my small durian farm was suffering losses because of the big cost of running a farm. Labor costs, fertilizer and pesticide cost were all eating into my profits.
When I turned to agritourism, I was able to make a nice profit and diversify my income.
My durian farm offers:
Four-wheel drive adventure
An opportunity for tourists to eat various kinds of durians
Tourists can pluck their own mangosteen
Visitors get to eat duku, langsat, rambutans and pulasan (tropical fruits)
Tourists get to tour a durian farm with explanations on how to cultivate durians
Here are some things for you to consider:
What is your niche? - Ex, You can focus on farm tours, pick your own
Who is your ideal target market? - Children, families or couples?
What are your long term goals? - Do you have any specific number of people you want to bring into your farm each week or do you have any monetary goals each month
Budget your finances properly - Plan the costs and what amount of money you have to spend
The list of questions to ask yourself are not exhaustive. The more you ponder upon these, the clearer you will be able to understand how to get the best from your agritourism business.
Step 2: Define Your Agritourism Experiences
Once you've pinpointed what sets your farm apart, start brainstorming the types of experiences you can offer visitors.
Will you be offering:
farm tours,
farmstand
pick-your-own produce opportunities,
pumpkin or strawberry picking
cut your own Christmas trees
farm stays,
educational workshops,
agricultural workshops
harvest festivals
weddings and hosting events
4x4 adventure
hiking
selling farm merchandise and souvenirs
selling food items
Never ever limit your farm. You may be rearing sheep in your farm with some vegetable produce.
But what you can do is you can provide an educational tour on how to rear sheep and milk sheep. You can sell sheep produce as well such as sheep milk and sheep cheese.
You may have a vast land with hilly areas and you can offer hiking experiences just like the operators of Island Hill Station in New Zealand.
They charge anywhere from NZD $300 to NZD $700 per pax for a few days walking tours. This adds a significant income to the farm operators and you can do the same as well.
From my own experience in my durian farm, I offer tourists from all over the world a 4x4 adventure plus durian farm tour and eating durians.
Step 3: Build Infrastructure and Amenities
Once you have decided on what unique experience you want to give your visitors, it is time to build the necessary infrastructure and amenities.
Invest in creating facilities and amenities that will enhance visitors' experiences on your farm.
This could include
building designated walking paths,
clear signage, clearly mark trails, point of interests
setting up picnic areas
barbeque pits
constructing farm-to-table dining spaces
farmhouses for overnight stays
glamping facilities
tiny homes
wedding halls
restrooms
Be sure to calculate the COSTS before doing anything. If you do not have enough money to build an expensive infrastructure, start with what you have.
Think about cheaper alternatives if you do not have the means yet. You can always upgrade things later when you have more income.
Creating a welcoming environment will leave a lasting impression on your guests.
For my durian farm, I just needed a comfortable place where I can let my guests sit to eat durians. I already had a farmhouse with modern toilets so all I needed to do was provide plastic chairs and tables.
I also installed extra fans so that my guests will not be too hot when they are at my farm.
Step 4: Develop Marketing Strategies For Your Farm
To attract visitors to your agritourism business, you need a robust marketing plan.
Marketing is perhaps the biggest problem to most beginning agritourism operators. Getting people to your farm will be the biggest challenge.
Thankfully, you do not need to worry so much as modern technologies has enabled us to bridge the gap between huge companies that have large marketing budget and the independent farm.
This is what you should be doing (and most of them are free)
Get your farm listed on Google Business and Google Map
Set up an Instagram account and post something each week
Set up a Facebook page for your farm and post regularly
Utilize social media platforms, collaborate with local tourism boards, and consider offering online booking options to reach a wider audience.
Highlight what makes your farm unique and showcase the experiences visitors can expect when they choose to visit.
The most important thing for your farm is to get a high rating from visitors. Great reviews tend to bring in visitors from all over the world.
The above is a snapshot of my business on Google.
For a farm you do not need thousands of Google reviews to bring in customers. All you need is 20-30 5 star reviews and you will bring in a steady stream of visitors. Once you get to 50 great reviews you will have visitors from all over the world.
It is not an easy process but I do teach you a step by step approach on how to do it in my Agritourism Success Course.
Today half the battle is to get visitors to your farm through modern technology. If you can harness the power of the internet, you will never lack visitors to your farm.
Step 5: Ensure Safety and Compliance
Safety and compliance are extremely important.
The safety of your visitors should be your priority. Human lives can be in danger and sometimes your visitors can get hurt and land in hospital.
Some safety precautions to take note are such as:
Fence off dangerous areas in your farm
Make sure dangerous animals are not free to run around to hurt your visitors
Close up any holes that your visitors can fall in or trip over
Make sure dangerous farm equipment and vehicles are out of reach to visitors
Anything that can cause danger to your guests should be avoided
The worse part is when your visitors sue you for negligence. This can cost a bomb.
Which is why it is important to make sure you follow the local laws.
Ask yourself:
Do I need to put signs and limitations of liability signboards on my farm?
What are the local laws that I need to follow?
Do I need a licence or permit to operate certain activities and events in my farm?
When in doubt call up your local / regional agritourism government agency
Prioritize the safety and well-being of your guests by implementing necessary safety measures and adhering to regulatory requirements.
Make sure that all activities on your farm are conducted safely, and provide adequate signage and guidance to visitors to prevent any accidents.
When visitors come to my farm, I do tell them to take care of their kids. I tell them it is important for adults to supervise their kids while riding the 4x4 adventure.
I also tell my visitors not to go anywhere in the farm without a guide. As the durian farm is outdoors there are snakes, insects and all kinds of dangers. Thankfully the majority of my farm is flat land.
If your farm has slopes and hills you should be careful as visitors may fall down quite easily.
Take all necessary steps to protect your visitors and yourself.
Step 6 : Business Registration And Insurance
As I build my durian farm agritourism business, I realized that more and more companies want to bring their staff to my farm.
In Malaysia, there is a practice of rewarding their staff with a durian buffet during durian season. Soon I started to get lots of calls from companies who want to bring their staff to my farm.
What I realize is that they are more comfortable doing business if I have a registered company.
So I registered for an Enterprise and named my company "Bloopy Durians Enterprise"
You can set up a:
Sole proprietorship
Partnership
Limited liability company
Sure there are many other types of business ownership structure. But I think you need at least a sole proprietorship to run the agritourism business.
Do seek advice from your lawyer or accountant on which structure suits you best.
The next thing to take note off is insurance
If you run an activity in your farm that may be dangerous to your visitors, you will need to make sure you get the necessary insurance coverage.
Do you provide rides in your farm
Do you let your visitors sit on an animal?
Is the landscape dangerous for your visitors?
Anything that require care and may bring danger to your tourists need to be covered by insurance.
Do speak to your insurance agent about it.
Step 7: Focus on Sustainability And Organic Practices
Embrace sustainable practices on your farm to appeal to environmentally conscious visitors.
Highlight your efforts in conservation, waste management, and renewable energy to showcase your commitment to preserving the environment for future generations.
If you have an organic farm that does not use chemical pesticides, you can tell your visitors about it.
Nowadays, people are getting more and more conscious about the environment. If you can teach and educate them about how to grow things without reliance on chemicals, it can boost your farm.
Do you grow fruit trees and vegetables in an organic way?
Do you tackle pests using organic pesticides?
Do you manage water usage properly to save water?
Does your farm minimize water pollution?
Does your farm minimize air pollution?
Does your farm minimize soil corrosion or soil pollution?
Do you plant cover crops or perennials?
Do you reduce or practice non tillage?
If you do any of the above, don't be shy to tell your visitors and educate them. They will appreciate the knowledge.
When visitors come to my farm, I tell them that my farm does not spray as much pesticide as other durian farms. Some of my fruits have holes and pests. I tell them that I have not put any pesticides for 2 months before they come.
Guess what?
My guests appreciate that they are walking in a farm that does not spray a lot of pesticide.
That is the benefit of agritourism. You can use less pesticides and chemicals and still benefit by providing as safe environment for visitors.
Step 8: Engage with the Community
Building strong relationships with the local community can help boost your agritourism business.
Partner with nearby businesses, participate in community events, and support local initiatives to foster goodwill and attract more visitors to your farm.
It is always a good idea to involve your community. Be friendly to those who live around your area and ask them to help promote your farm.
It could be as simple as:
Collaborating with local restaurants to promote your farm (5%-10% sales commission to them)
Partnering with local restaurants where you send your visitors to their restaurant for lunch or dinner after a farm tour
Offering special farm experiences and discounts to kindergartens, schools, colleges and universities
Collaborating with school and universities to give students a half a day hands on experience in your farm
Getting listed on your local or regional tourist attraction website
Participate in local, regional or even country events such as harvest festivals, farm stands etc
Participate in bazaars
Step 9: Gather Feedback and Improve
Regularly collect feedback from visitors to identify areas for improvement and tailor your offerings to meet their evolving needs.
By listening to your guests and adapting your agritourism experiences accordingly, you can ensure that your farm remains a sought-after destination.
There is a very powerful tool in your hands : Your Smart Phone
Using your smart phone you can get visitors to communicate with you. Today with apps such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger you can communicate with your customers before they come.
Take a look at my website on durian agritourism www.bloopydurians.com. There you will be able to see that I list my WhatsApp contact for visitors to contact me.
Before they come, they will find me. They will ask me what services I offer and what they get to experience at the farm. Most importantly they will ask for pricing.
From the very first time they find me, I get my visitors warmed up by being helpful and courteous.
As they warm up to me, they already have a good impression of me and my agritourism business before they come.
Before they leave or slightly after they leave, I will sometimes ask my visitors how they feel about my farm.
Here is a great way to build customer satisfaction:
Be warm and helpful when they WhatsApp or message you
During the experience give them your best. Be a friendly and great farm host
When they leave ask for feedback and any areas to improve
Some of the feedback that I receive from this important exercise are:
The durians are not that nice
Serving of fruits is too slow
They want a personal touch by the farm owner and not the staff
From this feedback I knew that my visitors like good quality produce and I will make sure that I give them good durians. When there are no good durians I should not open my farm to the public.
I should also ensure there are enough helpers to serve the durians while I talk with my guests. There are times when I am not at the farm and I delegate this to my partner.
This has resulted in some not nice reviews and feedbacks.
So the lesson here is for farmers to be on the farm as they welcome guests as people want to talk to the owner of the farm and not their staff.
Many of the 5 star reviews I have on Google are a result of me giving the personal touch and bringing my guests on a farm tour around my durian farm.
Step 10 : Growing Your Agritourism Business
As you bring in more and more guests and enlarge your agritourism business, you need to plan for future growth.
Firstly, make sure that your income is growing from agritourism. Once you know that your agritourism business is bringing in money, you know you have the right strategy to grow it.
There is no point in adding more things to your farm if you are not making money.
When you have some success, consider doing this:
Diversifying your revenue streams by adding more experiences and offerings (ex... farm to table experience, guided tours, farm stays)
Plan for off peak and off-season activities by offering year-round experiences and activities (ex...camping, hosting weddings on farm)
Expand strategically by building more attractions (ex...farm rides, 4x4 adventures, mazes)
Conclusion
Embarking on the journey of starting an agritourism business can be both rewarding and challenging.
By following these 10 steps and infusing your unique personality and passion into your offerings, you can create a memorable experience for visitors while expanding your farm's horizons.
Whether you're a seasoned farmer or new to the world of agriculture, agritourism presents a fantastic opportunity to connect with people, promote sustainability, and showcase the beauty of rural life.
Start planning today and watch as your farm transforms into a vibrant agritourism destination that leaves a lasting impression on all who visit.
By incorporating these steps and ideas, you can transform your farm into a bustling agritourism hub that attracts visitors seeking authentic rural experiences.
Get ready to embark on an exciting journey where agriculture meets tourism, and your farm will flourish in a new and inspiring way.
If you need some help from someone who has been there, done it and is successful in starting an agritourism business, do check out my Agritourism Success Course. This course will fast track your agritourism business.
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