Sydney-based agritourism consultancy Sparrowly Group will host a free webinar on October 7 on building farm tourism ventures that last, Managing Director Giovanna Lever said.
The session follows an award for the company at the Global Agritourism Network awards in Aberdeen, Scotland, as governments court farm visitors as a source of rural income. Australia’s national science agency CSIRO estimates agritourism will be worth AUD18.6bn ($13.2bn) to the Australian economy by 2030, while Scotland’s sector, valued by VisitScotland at an estimated GBP292.9mn ($392mn) a year, has already passed the targets in its 2030 strategy. Destinations from Québec to Latvia have been packaging autumn harvest routes and gastro-tourism trails for the same market.
Sparrowly was named Best Institute/NGO/Organisation in Agritourism Research and Development, Training, Education and Skill Development at the awards. Lever said the Global Agritourism Network conference drew 550 delegates from more than 50 countries.
“We are bringing what we learned there home to you,” Lever wrote on LinkedIn.
The one-hour webinar, running from 12pm to 1pm Australian Eastern Daylight Time, will look at the points on which mature agritourism markets agree, how producers can stop acting as price takers and the role of wellness in farm tourism. It will also set out changes councils and destination teams need to make to support the sector.
The session is aimed at farmers and primary producers, destination managers, regional tourism organisations, industry bodies and council economic development teams. Registration is open online.
Sparrowly provides agritourism strategy, mentoring and training to farmers and regional governments and says it has mentored hundreds of producers across New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. Its mentoring programme with MidCoast Council in New South Wales earned the council a Highly Commended award at the Local Government Professionals awards this year.