Last updated on 24th Oct 2018
Agri-Tourism or Farm Tourism is a niche market in India with lot of potential when more people start understanding what it is and more such ventures come up. Many people get confused between Resorts, Home Stays and Farm Tourism. Although there are some overlaps, they largely tend to be different. In one of my early blogs, I wrote about the difference between a Resort and a Farm where I explained about Farm Tourism (Here is the link).
Home Stay and Farm Stay have more in common in the sense that many Home Stays outside cities are located in farms. But the major difference is that the Home Stay doesn't focus on and showcase the farm, thus making it more of a stay inside a house.That is where the ideas of environment, sustainable and responsible living, reduce/reuse/recycle, health, co-existence, conservation, pollution, waste management, urban-rural divide, etc. get clarity. Gained more clarity on this aspect after visiting a Home Stay near Sakleshpur in Karnataka recently. Although it is in the midst of a coffee estate and surrounded by many more such estates, nobody in the Home Stay even talks about the estate(s) and none of the visitors is keen on seeing them. It is like the owners are too busy with their business and the guests just want a nice setting to carry out their "fun activities" like drinking, etc. No concern about the environment and sustainable living from either the hosts or guests as visible in the use of plastics and other single-use items. Any such mention is simply dismissed without any response. And the result was seen in the nature's fury during the recent floods in Coorg/Sakleshpur/Kerala.
Many people living in the cities have an experience and perspective on sustatinable living, but they get to see them from a different angle in a different context and setting in a Farm Stay. There is so much to learn from such guests. Many others, particularly those who were born and brought up in a farm, but having moved to cities will simply travel back in time and soak into good old days. There are also people who want to visit the farm to "do nothing" and simply relax in fresh air. There are others who are already into farming visiting the farm to learn our"good practices" and share their "good practices" resulting in lot of brainstorming and exchange of ideas. Whatever it may be, it is true that Agri-tourism needs a different mindset and only those inclined to it will arrive at the farm. And there is no denying that the visit triggers a new thought process in the visitor's mind. This is where the contrast between Home Stay and Farm Tourism is stark because there is a long-term impact on most of the Farm Tourists. None of these is a hollow claim as they are based on my personal experiences and I can substantiate them with simple incidents and anecdotes. For example, among a group of school kids who spent 4-5 hours farm, 20% of them said that they were inspired to do farming. It makes the host fill with immense satisfaction about the job. Even if 10% of that 20% really takes up farming (need not be full-time) this world will be a different place to live in! It is also true that a visit to Chiguru Farm has made quite a few people start thinking about getting into farming and a few of them have even started doing it.
Our main objective of Agri-Tourism has been to educate kids and families about farming and make them understand where their food comes from. Sprinkle a little bit of fun, activities and games to keep the people engaged, or else this can get boring. But we make sure that the focus on education is not lost. Of course, the freshly prepared authentic local food has its own charm. We insist on our guests to trace the roots of at least one of their staples after going back home and find out where it comes from and how it is grown. This will be life-changing. We also insist on our guests to slow down their lives as long as they are in the farm and soak into greenery. It is very interesting to note that most of the guests visit the farm for a different experience instead of simply visiting another place. Many of them are repeat customers as they love the experience. People have started realizing that it is more important to focus on "experiences" instead of "places" during travel and that is why they have started experimenting with different types of travel.
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime".
I understand the context and the broad category of the above quote and I completely agree with it. But my experience of one year in Agri-tourism, that is being on the "other side" of "travel" has some times made me wonder how far this is true. I have come across some avid travelers with prejudice and narrow-mindedness and they refuse to budge from it! Take the example of a family which, after discussing in detail about the farm and understanding what to expect there and browsing through our website, says that they didn't have to travel so much to see trees and plants and start negotiating the price at the end of the trip! Or take the example of a teacher who offers gratuitous but naive advise that Indian farmers should follow the Israeli model without knowing the ground realities and differences. There also people who are happy to take away farm produce as freebies, without even asking permission. Some others come and start asking "where is the TV", "where is the swimming pool", etc. There are others who think that a "farm house" is a gateway to different illegal activities. Many others, mainly corporates ask me whether they can bring food from outside, which I counter by telling that they should rather picnic at Cubbon Park! According to me, farm food is part of the farm experience and refusing to eat it is disrespecting the farm and the farmer.
There are also people who think that a farmer has a lot of free time or his time is not much valuable. I would rather dismiss such experiences as aberrations as most of my experience with Agri-Tourism has been wonderful, cheerful, joyful, memorable and encouraging.
Agri-Tourism or Farm Tourism is a niche market in India with lot of potential when more people start understanding what it is and more such ventures come up. Many people get confused between Resorts, Home Stays and Farm Tourism. Although there are some overlaps, they largely tend to be different. In one of my early blogs, I wrote about the difference between a Resort and a Farm where I explained about Farm Tourism (Here is the link).
Home Stay and Farm Stay have more in common in the sense that many Home Stays outside cities are located in farms. But the major difference is that the Home Stay doesn't focus on and showcase the farm, thus making it more of a stay inside a house.That is where the ideas of environment, sustainable and responsible living, reduce/reuse/recycle, health, co-existence, conservation, pollution, waste management, urban-rural divide, etc. get clarity. Gained more clarity on this aspect after visiting a Home Stay near Sakleshpur in Karnataka recently. Although it is in the midst of a coffee estate and surrounded by many more such estates, nobody in the Home Stay even talks about the estate(s) and none of the visitors is keen on seeing them. It is like the owners are too busy with their business and the guests just want a nice setting to carry out their "fun activities" like drinking, etc. No concern about the environment and sustainable living from either the hosts or guests as visible in the use of plastics and other single-use items. Any such mention is simply dismissed without any response. And the result was seen in the nature's fury during the recent floods in Coorg/Sakleshpur/Kerala.
Many people living in the cities have an experience and perspective on sustatinable living, but they get to see them from a different angle in a different context and setting in a Farm Stay. There is so much to learn from such guests. Many others, particularly those who were born and brought up in a farm, but having moved to cities will simply travel back in time and soak into good old days. There are also people who want to visit the farm to "do nothing" and simply relax in fresh air. There are others who are already into farming visiting the farm to learn our"good practices" and share their "good practices" resulting in lot of brainstorming and exchange of ideas. Whatever it may be, it is true that Agri-tourism needs a different mindset and only those inclined to it will arrive at the farm. And there is no denying that the visit triggers a new thought process in the visitor's mind. This is where the contrast between Home Stay and Farm Tourism is stark because there is a long-term impact on most of the Farm Tourists. None of these is a hollow claim as they are based on my personal experiences and I can substantiate them with simple incidents and anecdotes. For example, among a group of school kids who spent 4-5 hours farm, 20% of them said that they were inspired to do farming. It makes the host fill with immense satisfaction about the job. Even if 10% of that 20% really takes up farming (need not be full-time) this world will be a different place to live in! It is also true that a visit to Chiguru Farm has made quite a few people start thinking about getting into farming and a few of them have even started doing it.
Our main objective of Agri-Tourism has been to educate kids and families about farming and make them understand where their food comes from. Sprinkle a little bit of fun, activities and games to keep the people engaged, or else this can get boring. But we make sure that the focus on education is not lost. Of course, the freshly prepared authentic local food has its own charm. We insist on our guests to trace the roots of at least one of their staples after going back home and find out where it comes from and how it is grown. This will be life-changing. We also insist on our guests to slow down their lives as long as they are in the farm and soak into greenery. It is very interesting to note that most of the guests visit the farm for a different experience instead of simply visiting another place. Many of them are repeat customers as they love the experience. People have started realizing that it is more important to focus on "experiences" instead of "places" during travel and that is why they have started experimenting with different types of travel.
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime".
I understand the context and the broad category of the above quote and I completely agree with it. But my experience of one year in Agri-tourism, that is being on the "other side" of "travel" has some times made me wonder how far this is true. I have come across some avid travelers with prejudice and narrow-mindedness and they refuse to budge from it! Take the example of a family which, after discussing in detail about the farm and understanding what to expect there and browsing through our website, says that they didn't have to travel so much to see trees and plants and start negotiating the price at the end of the trip! Or take the example of a teacher who offers gratuitous but naive advise that Indian farmers should follow the Israeli model without knowing the ground realities and differences. There also people who are happy to take away farm produce as freebies, without even asking permission. Some others come and start asking "where is the TV", "where is the swimming pool", etc. There are others who think that a "farm house" is a gateway to different illegal activities. Many others, mainly corporates ask me whether they can bring food from outside, which I counter by telling that they should rather picnic at Cubbon Park! According to me, farm food is part of the farm experience and refusing to eat it is disrespecting the farm and the farmer.
There are also people who think that a farmer has a lot of free time or his time is not much valuable. I would rather dismiss such experiences as aberrations as most of my experience with Agri-Tourism has been wonderful, cheerful, joyful, memorable and encouraging.
