Travelling Edutainment: Agri-Tourism for travelling families |
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For years family farmers looking for ways to diversify their revenues and reconnect travelling people with the farming culture by adding events and attractions to bring in travelling visitors and income creating the agri-tourism industry.
In Europe, travelling tourist accommodations are the most common feature at European farms, some have evolved unto diversified attractions for travelling people with travelling kids passing by their country side.
For example, in the United Kingdom,The Folly Farm in Kilgetty, Wales: The place started in the 1940s as a dairy operation but in 1988 began marketing itself to travelling families .Initially , the place features a petting zoo and field tours to visitors travelling by . Today, while Folly Farm maintains an agricultural themed area, it also features amusement rides, a zoo and wildlife park, several large adventure playgrounds, and live entertainment. Attendance is about 400,000 travelling visitors, making it the most popular paid visitor attraction in Wales.
According to the U.S Department of Agriculture, about 52,000 American farms receive income from farm-based recreation for travelling target markets; travelling families .This includes a very diverse set of activities, including outdoor recreation, educational experiences, hospitality, farmer markets, pick-your-own-crops, and entertainment including petting zoos, festivals, and amusement rides to attract travelling children in the region.
Fair Oaks Farm in Winamac, Indiana, is one of the largest dairy farms in the country.The owners started looking for a site to expand their operations in the 1990s because they saw the opportunity in attracting 29 million people living within 200 miles of the site as well as all travelling visitors and especially travelling families with kids in Indiana , and to tell the story of dairy farming and the importance of agriculture in everyday life .For example, Henry's Chocolate World ,a visitors' center that includes not only a tour of the dairy operation, but several theme-park-style attractions .This includes 4D theatre ,a play area that educates kids on the dairy process, a walkthrough attraction featuring animatronic trees and animals explaining farming and milk production, and an outdoor play area .In addition , the place has a special events area to accommodate group outings and events for travelling groups in Indiana .The attractions are intended to help guide public debate and present three core messages ;Agriculture is compatiable with the environment , with animal welfare and milk is good for you! Fair Oaks Farm has succeeded in becoming a major visitor attraction .Future plans include the addition of windmills and other energy-related attractions to reinforce the farm's environmental message, along with an RV park and a hotel that intend to attract travelling families to spend their entire vacation in the country side .
Another example is Schepf Farms in Queen Creek, Arizona that has transformed a desert parcel into agricultural land .It became one of the state's largest producers of onions ,sweet corn, potatoes, hay ,and peaches. The farm decided to host a festival to promote the farm's peach orchard. Today The Peach Festival attracts 100,000 visitors &travelling families in Arizona. In addition they started hosting music festivals on the hay field between growing seasons. Other attractions soon followed in 1995 to accommodate the travelling crowds , including a petting zoo and ice cream stand .In 1996 The Pumpkin and Chili Party was launched .In the late 1990s facing a third year of poor potato production they considered to launce a transformation of the facility into an entertainment farm: an amusement park with nine farm-themed rides .The first ride, a train which provide tours of the fields, in addition an antique merry-go-round and a family roller coaster. The transformation saved the facility for farming. There is a way to marry agriculture with entertainment for traveling tourists ! Agri-Tourism is becoming a destination for travelling families.
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