Rural tourism and agritourism

Scroll down for posts that have been tagged with “rur­al tour­ism and agri­t­our­ism”; travel & tour­ism per­tain­ing to non-urb­an, espe­cially agri­cul­tur­al, areas.

Rur­al tour­ism and agri­t­our­ism are two rap­idly grow­ing seg­ments with­in the tour­ism industry that provide vis­it­ors with the oppor­tun­ity to exper­i­ence authen­t­ic, rur­al life­styles and agri­cul­tur­al activities.

Rur­al tour­ism encom­passes a wide range of activ­it­ies, includ­ing hik­ing, camp­ing, hunt­ing, fish­ing, and sight­see­ing. Agri­t­our­ism, on the oth­er hand, involves vis­it­ing work­ing farms and par­ti­cip­at­ing in farm-related activ­it­ies such as pick­ing fruit, milk­ing cows, and learn­ing about sus­tain­able farm­ing practices.

Both forms of tour­ism offer a unique and reward­ing exper­i­ence for trav­el­lers seek­ing to dis­con­nect from the hustle and bustle of city life and con­nect with nature.

One of the main bene­fits of rur­al tour­ism and agri­t­our­ism is the oppor­tun­ity for vis­it­ors to learn about tra­di­tion­al rur­al and agri­cul­tur­al prac­tices. These activ­it­ies allow trav­el­lers to gain a bet­ter appre­ci­ation of the land and its inhab­it­ants. By inter­act­ing with farm­ers and loc­als, vis­it­ors can gain insights into the chal­lenges and rewards of rur­al life, and learn about the import­ant role agri­cul­ture plays in sus­tain­ing rur­al communities.

In addi­tion to the edu­ca­tion­al value, rur­al tour­ism and agri­t­our­ism can also be an eco­nom­ic boon for rur­al com­munit­ies. By offer­ing these exper­i­ences, farm­ers and oth­er rur­al busi­nesses can diver­si­fy their income streams and pro­mote their products to a wider audi­ence. These activ­it­ies can also help to cre­ate jobs and stim­u­late loc­al eco­nom­ies, par­tic­u­larly in regions that are strug­gling with pop­u­la­tion decline and outmigration.

How­ever, rur­al tour­ism and agri­t­our­ism are not without their chal­lenges. These activ­it­ies must be man­aged care­fully to ensure that they do not neg­at­ively impact the loc­al envir­on­ment, wild­life, or rur­al way of life. Prop­er plan­ning and man­age­ment are essen­tial to ensure that vis­it­ors are respect­ful of loc­al cus­toms and prac­tices, and that the tour­ism activ­it­ies are sus­tain­able and do not harm the nat­ur­al resources of the area.

Tags are inform­al. The “Good Tour­ism” Blog tries not to get bogged down with ter­min­o­logy and defin­i­tions. If you dis­agree with tags applied (or not applied) to a post, feel free to com­ment on it or any post you think has been incor­rectly or insuf­fi­ciently tagged. “GT” encour­ages good-faith debate and discussion.

Regenerative tourism’s myths and realities

June 11, 2024
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Regenerative tourism: Myth and reality. 'Regenerative Reliquary' stem cell image by Monika Robak (CC0) via Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/photos/regenerative-reliquary-amy-karle-2744729/

Regen­er­at­ive tour­ism is great for des­tin­a­tions that choose to focus on it, and for the few who can afford it. But what about the rest of us? It’s a “Good Tour­ism” Insight by Jim Butcher. ‘Regen­er­at­ive’ is the latest eth­ic­al pre­fix to accom­pany ‘tour­ism’, fol­low­ing a well-worn path from ‘eco’, ‘sus­tain­able’, ‘green’, ‘com­munity’, ‘respons­ible’ et cetera. […]

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From subsistence to something special: The rise of luxury agritourism

July 18, 2023
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Luxury agritourism with free-range chickens at Margi Farm, Greece

The oppor­tun­ity to earn a sup­ple­ment­al income from agri­t­our­ism is very appeal­ing to many farm­ers who have tra­di­tion­ally struggled to sur­vive let alone thrive. So while the concept of ‘lux­ury’ is evolving, could the world’s tra­di­tion­al agri­cul­tur­ists be sit­ting on a lux­ury agri­t­our­ism gold mine? It’s a “Good Tour­ism” Insight by Stefania Fren.

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An exemplar of nature-based and community-based agritourism in Rwanda: Red Rocks Cultural Campsite

April 21, 2023
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Agritourism in Rwanda at Red Rocks Cultural Campsite. Image by Kate Webster at www.travellerkate.com

Agri­t­our­ism show­cases agri­cul­ture, rur­al tra­di­tions, and nat­ur­al resources, provid­ing vis­it­ors with an oppor­tun­ity to exper­i­ence and learn about these ele­ments through tour­ism. The Red Rocks Cul­tur­al Camp­site in Musan­ze, Rwanda is an excep­tion­al mod­el of both nature-based agri­t­our­ism and com­munity-based agri­t­our­ism in Rwanda, show­cas­ing the vital­ity of the Afric­an nation. Sur­roun­ded by stun­ning scenery and […]

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Top five most visited “GT” Insights & “GT” Travel Experiences of 2021 (& all time)

December 21, 2021

Five! Image by yohoprashant (CC0) via Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/photos/colorful-five-fingers-kid-fingers-4043709/

Most of the past year — two years — has been ter­ribly tough for many; espe­cially travel & tour­ism people.  I can’t really say much more about it than I said at the cor­res­pond­ing time last year:  Good rid­dance 2021 … 2022 had bet­ter be bet­ter … blah blah … But, as I wrote at the end of 2020, it’s import­ant to […]

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Is agritourism a more eco-friendly & gender-equitable form of tourism?

July 8, 2021
One Comment

By Free-Photos (CC0) via Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/photos/cherries-handful-red-ripe-fresh-1082136/

Would you pay more for cher­ries you picked your­self? Respond­ents in an agri­t­our­ism study by Erdogan Koc said they would. In this “Good Tour­ism” Insight, his second, Prof Koc sum­mar­ises the case for agri­t­our­ism and its poten­tial bene­fits for the envir­on­ment and women … and cherry grow­ers. In par­al­lel with its fast growth over the […]

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WWOOF! An alternative tourism in times of turmoil

March 3, 2021

Insta-worthy WWOOFing experiences; a screen capture from the WWOOF Instagram page

Not to be con­fused with dog­ging, WWOOF­ing is a rur­al tour­ism concept that com­bines volun­tour­ism with organ­ic farm­ing and cul­tur­al exchange. In this “Good Tour­ism” Insight, former WWOOF­er and cur­rent aca­dem­ic Yana Wen­gel explains why WWOOF and oth­er altern­at­ive forms of tour­ism could be just what we need. [Thanks to Joseph M Cheer for invit­ing Dr […]

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