Are You Farm Tour Ready?
Farm Tour Readiness in Hawaii
See Our Checklist!
When looking at whether or not your farm or agri-location is ready for visitors and to create a County Compliant place for guests to explore, here is a checklist that we use to identify areas that need to be modified, created, changed, added or addressed. Every County has its own guidelines and most potential agritourism locations are assessed on a case by case basis based on what the farm wants to do, the location of the venue and the scale & scope of traffic, revenue and safety.
Currently, there is no one way, one rule, one method to being compliant. So if you are looking to get into the industry prepare yourself for that. However, local and global studies show that agri-tourism/rural tourism, outdoor/adventure activities, eco-travel and hands-on educational experiences are key to sustainable business models in isolated island locations, like Hawaii. Especially when it comes to agriculture.
Understand that agri-tourism is not production or commodity farming. Once in the agritourism industry you now cross over to a specialty service agri-location. These are 2 very different types of agri-business. Commonly, farm owners see the value of diversifying into the agri-tourism industry to generate revenue that comes from value added product and service but do not fully realize the capital and commitment required to make this change.
Here is a checklist we use when consulting for farms that are diversifying their farm templates to include a customer service, value added component to generate commerce.
Have a look through and see if your farm can answer/address all these items. Also, be aware that these items are essential to the visitor/guest experience. Visitor safety is generally not the same as farm safety in a manner of speaking. Farmers tend to have a stronger wherewithal than the average everyday person, and often do not notice just how much stronger and resilient they are in comparison to folks who don’t farm or are not accustomed to being on a farm day to day.
Farm Readiness Guidance:
This is the exact list we follow when helping farms navigate compliance and readiness. Listed under each are little tips to addressing & understanding each item.
1. Staffing Needs
Who will do the farm tour? Does this person like people?
In our experience, most farmers like to farm, not tour (especially the old timers;). In some cases they do really like to tell their story and we encourage them to do this even if it has nothing (or little) to do with the farm per say. Guests love to interact with or see (even if briefly) the Farmers “who started it all”. However, next generation farmers usually have different skill sets and enjoy educating guests just as much as they like farming.
2. Physical Layout
What’s the plan for your tour? The actual walking and/or driving route that guests are going to be using while on your property. Where can they go, where can they not go? What can they touch? What can they not touch? This is an important part of compliance and often gets overlooked because farm owners have never looked at their layout in relation to having visitors walk all around it. Every location will require signage that indicates every little thing. Visitors need lots of guidance. i.e. parking, restrooms, turn here arrows, shop, demonstration area etc. ADA compliance for parking and restrooms is also required.
3. Safety Concerns
Again, generally speaking farmers are stronger than people who are not on farms every day, so safety is different for people who are not farmers;) Things like, dips in the walking area, steep hills, ungraveled uneven pathways, exposed machinery & tools etc. These little things tend to get overlooked by a farmer but can be a danger for visitors.
4. Restrooms
For the most part, there needs to be restroom facilities on your farm to do agri-tourism. We have seen expectations, but very few. Exceptions are made in cases where there is a restroom facility close by that is easily accessible for guests but it often does not fly when a venue is looking to operate every day and acquire compliance.
5. Food Service
Make sure you have the proper food permits before serving food. Value added products should be made in a certified kitchen and food safety compliance and concerns have grown in relation to selling and serving food on farms so be aware of this.
6. Parking
This is a safety concern. Parking will need to be clearly identified and safe. Flat, graveled and or paved, clear turn arounds, signage and enough stalls that accommodate how many visitors you anticipate or can maximize. An open field or grass on the side of the road, generally is a no go.
7. Product Offerings
Many farms miss the opportunity to sell product. In our experience, the farm tour is the “hook” to get people to buy the products. There’s an internal multiplier effect here. For example, if the tour is $10 for an hour, a guest may purchase multiple items that are $10 each in 15 minutes —if there are products available to purchase. People like to buy stuff, so don’t miss these opportunities to make money.
8. Potential tour and educational experiences
What are you going to tell people on the tour? There is an interesting paradox with farmers sometimes, they either have nothing to say or they have a hard time telling their story in less than 2-3 hours. We recommend this: Past, Present, Future (of the business/farm). This way there is some type of formula to help keep whoever is doing the tour on track.
9. Visitor Perception
What do you want the guest to “take away” from their experience? What are the values of your brand?
10. Marketing Strategies
Often, business owners think that if you build it, they will come. Oh contraire…if you build it and market it, they will come:) There are many ways and means to marketing and in some cases there is even a “no marketing, marketing” strategy that we’ve seen succeed for certain templates. This usually means word of mouth is the main method and no additional dollars are spent to promote the business. It also keeps volume controlled and eases businesses into the brand model that they are trying to achieve.
11. Supporting community as a marketing tool
Public Private Partnerships are vital to business success in today’s local and global economy. Having friends and partners in the community not only strengthens your brand but also provides additional exposure through various networks.
12. Being a good neighbor
As far as compliance goes, this is the most important tip- Be a good neighbor. If your neighbors complain about your business, County officials will come knocking. If your neighbors are in support of what you do, hassles will be far less.
Welp, hope this checklist has helped guide some of your decisions and sparked ideas or concepts that you may have been thinking about regarding your venue & agritourism venture.
Below is another helpful link put together in partnerships with our friends from the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR)
https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/HI_Farmers_Market_and_Agritourism_Venues.pdf
