Agritourism: A Potential Economic Driver in the Rural West

Agritourism is increasingly recognized as a means of enterprise diversification for agricultural producers, especially for its ability to increase cash flows to farm and ranch operations and in addition to their surrounding communities. Lacking a formal definition, agritourism can be summarized as anything that connects consumers with the heritage, natural resource or culinary experiences unique to the agricultural industry, or a particular region of the country’s rural areas. The list of agritourism activities continues to grow, and includes a variety of participant, educational, and spectator experiences including: outdoor recreation (fishing, hunting, wildlife photography, horseback riding); educational experiences (farm and cannery tours, cooking classes, wine tasting, cattle drives, or help work the ranch); entertainment (harvest festivals or corn mazes); hospitality services (farm and ranch stays, guided tours or outfitter services); on-farm direct sales (u-pick operations or roadside stands); and, off-the-farm direct sales (farmers’ markets, county and state fairs, special events).