Reporter Shawn McAvinue spends five minutes talking to her about the state of the agritourism sector in the South.
Yes definitely. Beef + Lamb reached out for the first time recently asking me to talk about agritourism because farmers are looking for ways to diversify their farm income. Agritourism is growing 6.5% year-on-year and demand for agritourism experiences is even higher. Many farmers are asset rich and cash poor so they can change that by doing more to generate income from their land. A good trend is international visitors are staying longer and spending more.
Q. What are some examples of experiences in demand?
A range of accommodation options from cottages, PurePods, glamping, renovated shearers quarters and multi-day experiences like walking or biking, multisport events, wellness retreats and wine tasting. It can be anything and everything. Farms, especially sheep and beef, have incredible settings from coastal scenery to high-country stations, which visitors absolutely love. People absolutely love the connection between the land, the people and knowing where their food comes from because most people coming here live in cities. They love it being the real thing and not being staged and having a genuine experience.
Q. Does the farmer need to go in boots and all to establish a new business?
People can be involved at a minimal level, such as a cottage on Airbnb or they can work with someone else to run it on their farm. Examples are someone running a multi-day walk on Island Hills Station in North Canterbury and the farmer is not involved and gets a split of the revenue. A daughter returned home to run luxury accommodation Cabot Lodge, near Manapouri, and they get a good income from the business.
Q. If your farm is remote, is this all in the too-hard basket?
No because people are looking for experiences off the beaten track. I work with Middlehurst Station and they are growing the tourism side of their business and it takes hours to drive in there and that is what people really love.
Q. Do you think there are opportunities to establish more agribusiness ventures in Otago and Southland?
Totally. People are always looking for something new and there is a demand for that. The South has a lot of space and a lot of opportunity to develop a business, which people will be want to stay at and have a great experience. For sure.
