Opening farms for agritourism can increase product sales. Pennsylvania State University reports.
Agritourism is the use of agricultural facilities for recreational purposes. Many city dwellers who have never been to the countryside are interested in seeing how grain is grown and cattle are raised in the modern world. Some find this lifestyle more ethical, fun, and psychologically comfortable.
Claudia Schmidt and her colleagues conducted a study and learned that agrotourism (bypassing retail chains) promotes the direct sale of farm products. This was found in an analysis of U.S. Agricultural Census materials. In particular, the authors examined farm income from agritourism and direct sales, the degree of correlation between them, and the geographical grouping of these activities. It turned out that tourist visits not only affect the sales of the farm they go to, but also the neighboring farms.
“Agritourism and direct selling are important additional sources of income for farmers and allow some to stay in business when they would otherwise go bankrupt,” the scientists explain. “Our research showed that more agrotourism operations in the same county are associated with more direct sales and vice versa. So when these activities happen side by side, they complement each other rather than compete.”
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