Are you interested in beginning or improving your own agritourism business? Learn directly from leading agritourism operators and experts during upcoming Agritourism Entrepreneurship Business Education Tours.
Iowa State University Extension is partnering with Iowa Economic Development Authority/Iowa Tourism Office to create and expand Iowa agritourism businesses who provide interactive visitor experiences on their working farm or rural setting. According to U.S. Census data, Iowa ranks near the bottom in number of farms generating agritourism income. The goal of this new statewide program is to increase the number and quality of Iowa on-farm experiences.
This program is taught by Diane Van Wyngarden, ISU Extension Tourism Specialist, who assisted several of these farm operators as they developed their agritourism businesses. The tours will feature a variety of agritourism experiences, from robots to aronia berries, tiny house lodging to larger farm living, and ruminants to roses. Tour participants will first experience each stop as a regular visitor, and then learn business advice directly from agritourism operators who are recognized for their specific areas of expertise.
The first Agritourism Entrepreneurship Business Education Tour will be held in Eastern Iowa on Tuesday, June 13, and a second will be held in Western Iowa on Tuesday, July 25.
Iowans may register for one or both tours. Pre-registration is required, and seating is limited to one motorcoach on a first-registration basis. The $10 fee for each tour includes farm visits and business owner sessions, a farm-to-table lunch, plus additional agritourism resources. Participants provide their own travel to the motorcoach tour start locations of Donahue or Missouri Valley, Iowa. Each tour’s start location is supplied when registering.
More information and tour registration links are found at https://go.iastate.edu/OYFBDL
For additional information, contact Diane Van Wyngarden, State Tourism Specialist for Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, at dvw@iastate.edu.
