Agritourism Trends to Pay Attention To in 2025 Lessons from the International Agritourism Conference

Several weeks ago, I attended the NAFDMA conference, which is the international agritourism association. The 5 days of conference were jam-packed: farm tours, product expos, keynote speakers, and educational sessions. There were a lot of new things to me (hello, agritourism ROLLERCOASTERS?) and many familiar things (the beloved apple cider donuts). I took note throughout the conference on themes that emerged over and over to try to get a better understanding of what the major trends in agritourism are today. Here's a list of 5 things that I learned, in no order of importance.

Agritourism has 'unlimited' potential

There is huge interest in agritourism- that much is obvious. Ever since 2020, the growth in the agritourism industry in Kentucky and nationwide has been significant. Something I hadn't considered prior to the conference is that this isn't going to go away anytime soon. In a world that is increasingly online and digital, agritourism offers a unique opportunity to experience real-life things. The world is lonely, we hear and feel that all the time. Farmers at NAFDMA iterated over and over that agritourism offers a real experience that people will cherish and will make them feel good. I heard several farmers talking about 'the experience economy,' where experience in its own right is a good that people purchase and seek out. Many farms are capitalizing on this by offering workshops of various kinds. Some farms are hiring in people and use their farm as more of a venue (like a paint and sip night), while others are offering workshops that are based on what it is that you do at your farm (container gardening, for example).

Hospitality isn't dead (in fact, it is very much alive)

If you are in the agritourism business, you are in the hospitality business. Many agritourism operations are also highly seasonal, meaning they have a very small portion of the year that they can capture and convert customers. This means that guest services are PARAMOUNT. When you only have one chance to make someone's experience good, the experience the customer has on their one visit is very important. Several farmers mentioned the book Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidera, referencing things like "What are your guests' expectations- now, what does it look like to exceed them?" and "If you were a guest, what would you want to happen?" Both of these quotes are talking about what a farm should do when a customer has a bad experience on their farm. Instead of grumbling, fighting with the customer- instead, how can you exceed their expectations to completely turn their experience around? One farmer mentioned that a customer had left a negative review because the farm restaurant was not operating on the day the customer had attended. The farm reached out to the customer and gave them a few coupons for free meals for the next time they came back- turning a negative experience into an overtly positive one.

Your employees need YOU

As I mentioned earlier, many agritourism operations are HIGHLY seasonal. This means that there is huge employee turnover year-to-year, you are only hiring seasonally. A few huge agritourism operators from around the country mentioned the importance of being positive as a leader- that positivity is contagious and it starts from the top. You need to get new employees to quickly buy in to who you are so that they are intrinsically motivated to 'create magic' for your customers. This means that you need to be upfront with your values and your purpose statement- they can't just be written in the employee handbook, but something you clearly say out loud on a regular basis to your employees, driving it home. Another theme that came up multiple times was the importance of gathering REGULAR feedback from your employees, not just at the end of the season. Doing so allows you to make changes within the short season, instead of just year to year. A few ways to do this would be to do a daily post-shift survey "what is one good thing that happened today?" and "what is one bad thing that happened today?" Another way to do this is a weekly fireside chat with your employees after the farm has closed for the day.

Food and Drink Sales are BIG

Farms are moving past just having apple cider donuts and buttered corn. Farms have the potential to offer intricate, unique dishes at a high price point as an experience in itself. There is a significant portion of the population that is older and without children, so creating agritourism opportunities that fit with this audience that happens to have more discretionary spending "double income, no kids (DINKS)" is a good idea. Some farms are opting for offering hard cider and other alcoholic drinks. But with a growing trend of "sober curious" adults, you should also consider offering sophisticated non-alcoholic options, not just having normal apple cider as the non-alcoholic option.

The importance of OWNED media

The fact that TikTok has (will?) (maybe?) disappeared reinforces this idea. Although you create and post on social media, all of that marketing could be gone in an instant if an app were to be removed or even if the algorithm changes (as it always is). So, how do you create marketing efforts that are owned by you? There are many ways to do this, namely Email Newsletters and Video content creation. Having owned media is important because you control it, but it is also a great way to establish a loyal customer base. You use your content to build community to initiate commerce (Adam Stoker). The biggest barrier for you to create good owned media is yourself. "Is this good enough?" "I think I will look stupid if I do that." I heard in several presentations that none of that matters- try anything and see what sticks. What your audience cares about may surprise you, but you will never know what they care about unless you try to show them what your farm is about (don't assume you know what your audience wants). Your content doesn't need to be highly produced, it just needs to make meaning. You need to make your marketing decisions based on your audience, not based on you. People want to buy from brands that they connect with- how are you connecting with your customers? The fear that something bad is going to happen when you put yourself out there in email and video marketing is only going to limit you, the bigger risk is not trying at all.