Using School Tours to Bring in Agritourism Dollars

	Speakers:
	Robert Leeds Extension Agent, Delaware County Ohio State University Extension		Eric Barrett Extension Agent, Washington County Ohio State University Extension
	Mark Mechling Extension Agent, Muskingum County Ohio State University Extension
	Description: The common notion of Agritourism may be a 55 passenger bus pulling into a farm market with a nicely paved parking lot, bakery, gift shop, and a permanent restroom facility. However, for most farmers who want to capture tourism dollars, this scene may be far off in their long-range business plan. There are ways to bring tourism to smaller farms, one of which is through school tours. Many farmers are successfully using school tours to bring in hundreds, and even thousands, of school kids per year. There are particular methods and activities that help make a farm successful in creating an educational, exciting and profitable school tourism enterprise. The objective of this workshop will be to share techniques and ideas that learners can use to develop and/or enhance rural tourism attractions on smaller farms and strengthen partnerships between farms and local communities. Participants of this workshop will see examples of what farm marketers across the United States and Canada are doing to develop successful school tours. Learners will also participate in some activities offered by successful farms to help children enjoy learning about agriculture. Learners will be offered a written evaluation instrument to assess the usefulness and application of this information to their situation.