We have been running Agri-Tourism at Chiguru Farm since 2016. It has been a lot of fun educating children and adults alike about agriculture, interacting with people from different strata of the society and helping first-generation farms setup their own farms. We also got to learn many things from our visitors/guests about agriculture and we have been immensely benefitted through these interactions. We have been making sure to share these learnings with others. The entire process has been transformative and enriching the farming community. However it has not always been a smooth ride! Here I would like to list down the challenges faced in Agri-Tourism which can help others who want to start an Agri-Tourism venture.
1) Biggest challenge is the clarity about Agri-Tourism. This is lacking among all the stakeholders including the person who runs Agri-Tourism and his/her staff, people in the Govt departments who make policies and those who execute it, the travel operators/aggregators, and the prospective visitors/guests/target audience.
- There are many instances where regular resorts are masquerading as Farm Stays due to this lack of understanding. We should realize that Agri-Tourism center is NOT any of the following: Resort, Home Stay, Hotel, Eco Tourism, Rural Tourism. However there are some overlapping aspects of all of them in Agri-Tourism and there is more to it. Particularly the emphasis on "Agri" should be the key differentiator from all of them.
- Most of the guests have never been to an Agri-Tourism space and many of them have not even been to a farm. But most of them have already been to a resort, home stay, etc and they will have similar expectations. Even if you try to set these expectations prior to the visit, there will be some misunderstandings.
2) Next big challenge is to plan how to keep our guests engaged (need not be "busy") during their visit/stay. There should be enough varieties of things to showcase/participate so that the visit becomes meaningful. (However there is also another, small category of visitors who want to visit and spend time in nature without really doing anything). Showcasing and participating in activities need not be parallel activities and multiple days stay can help in this.
3) All said and done, we should realize that Agri-Tourism is a "Business". Most of the Agri-Tourism centers are run by farmers themselves. Their financial-literacy will be low and this makes it difficult for them to keep track of the accounts, cash flow etc which are absolutely needed for any business.
4) Visitors/Guests can belong to any part of the country/world and they may not know your language. Being capable of explaining things in English/Hindi or any other language becomes very important. But the Agri-Tourism center may not have resources to employ staff for the same. In that case one person - most probably the owner himself (or herself) will have to take up this role. This has the risk of the project becoming fully dependent on one person and shall be shut when this person is not available. Another risk with this is that the farm work can take a beating if the person gets busy with entertaining the guests.
5) Showcasing the day-to-day farm life and getting interested guests to participate in these activities is one of the big challenges.
6) Our Agri-Tourism project can be of no-star to five-star standard. But many of the target audience will have an attitude that "farm is cheap" and "farm food is free". Therefore deciding on a convincing tariff is always a challenge.
7) We should keep in mind that the expenses of maintaining a farm house to the likings of your guests is quite expensive. For example, the essential services like plumber, electrician etc come at more expenses compared to those in the cities. This is because they have to travel longer distance and spend more time even for small work. But we still have to pay whatever they ask for (unless we can do these things ourselves!) so that the work gets done when you want. This cost obviously gets transferred to your guests, which means that the amount you charge your guests will have to take this also into consideration.
8) As mentioned earlier, "Agri" should take priority over "Tourism" in Agri-Tourism. It SHOULD take place in working farms only. Otherwise the focus diverts to the hospitality and tourism aspects and farming will suffer. This may mean taking priority calls on whether to entertain guests under certain circumstances so that farming is not impacted. For example, 2024 summer was severe due to draught situation for an year and we at Chiguru Farm took a conscious decision to stop all the tourism activities in order utilize the water for farming purposes. We should always keep in mind that a true Agri-Tourism project cannot survive if the "Agri" aspect is ignored.
9) Helping hands from family/well trained staff in handling guests and maintaining hygiene and cooperation from fellow farmers are necessary.
10) Lastly, any farm is an integral part of the rural landscape it is part of and therefore taking the local villagers into confidence is also a big challenge but it is very important. Wherever possible, it should contribute to the improvement of life of the locals.
I think I have covered all the challenges I have come across but there could be some more which I have not encountered. I am ready to listen and update it here.
