Taking Agritourism as High as a Hot Air Balloon
Donna Quadri developed a comprehensive agritourism plan to help vineyard owners and businesses enhance tourist experiences
Welcome to the Northeast SARE Spotlight! SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education) offers grants to farmers, educators, universities and communities that are working to make agriculture more sustainable – economically, environmentally, and socially. Learn about whether a SARE grant would be a good fit for you.Anyone who has driven through the Chautauqua-Lake Erie Wine Region of Western New York has seen the rolling hills of wine country that expand out as far as the eye can see. Farmland totaling 30,000 acres, populated by 23 wineries, blankets the region and provides it with a unique cultural and economic character. But, despite the huge economic contribution that these wineries provide, Dr. Donna Quadri-Felittii, a New York University tourism specialist, found that there was room for improvement when it came to tourism marketing in this region. In 2011, she received a SARE ‘Sustainable Community’ Grant to conduct research on the ideal tourism experience for visitors to this region and to disperse her findings to small businesses, wineries, and tourism specialists in the area.
Donna had a concern that “most marketing just looks at what the consumer wants and advises businesses to build their products around that.” So, when she began to design her SARE project, she incorporated a more comprehensive approach. She put together surveys that would gather feedback from both the supply-side (vineyards/businesses) and the demand-side (visitors and tourists) about their agritourism preferences. She disseminated these surveys to area farmers and businesses, consumers, and tourists whose names she collected from the visitor logs of businesses in the region.
During the subsequent 2 months, over 1000 tourists and 180 regional business owners and wineries responded to her surveys. The number and nature of the responses suggested that visitors to the region, in Donna’s words, held a “desire to understand this asset [farming] in the region” and that vineyard owners and other area businesses had a strong need for consumer education – a way to teach visitors about the value of farms to the community and the methods of producing wines and other products. The survey responses also provided Donna with important demographic facts about the region’s wine tourists. For example, many were 55 or older, middle class, college educated women, and the majority travelled to the area from New York or Pennsylvania.
Agritourism applies the “four-legged chair” approach to tourism marketing. The four ‘legs’ describe aesthetic, educational, entertainment and escapism components. For example, the natural beauty of rolling hills sprinkled with vineyards initially entices the tourist (the aesthetic component). After tourists learn more about the region (education), have fun while learning (entertainment), and experience the relaxing elation of being free from the constraints of the modern world (escapism), the tourists are hooked. By increasing consumer involvement in production/processing, agritourism can also enhance the demand and appeal for local products and can consequently help promote diversification of products for farmers.When all the data was compiled, Donna used the feedback to design a series of educational resources, essentially an “agritourism toolkit”, for the farmers and businesses of the Chautauqua-Lake Erie Wine Region. In part, the “toolkit ”included resources on broad topics like the four themes of the agritourism approach (see sidebar) and the basic ingredients in any type of tourism experience. It also offered information on more region-specific topics like the type of wine tourism experience that tourists in this particular region want and examples of region-specific tourism strategies applied to business types (e.g., vineyards, wineries, retail, foodservice, accommodations). Some of the suggested strategies to attract more visitors included hosting musical concerts inside the wine cellar, offering visitors rides on grape pickers, or scenic hot-air balloon tours over the vineyard. Donna also found that, for the demographic that most frequently visits this region, putting emphasis on aesthetic appeal (the unique natural beauty of the area) has the greatest impact on a visitor’s intent to return.
Donna, with the help of Penn State and Cornell University regional programs, local tourism organizations, and chambers of commerce, used a range of techniques to distribute her toolkit as widely throughout the region as possible. Her main outreach was through a series of PowerPoint slides, a tool she saw as the most “readily consumed and efficient way to disseminate information.” She hosted two 90-minute workshops, open to the public, during which she reviewed these slides and discussed how her findings could be used by local businesses to enhance the region’s agritourism experience. To view these resources, visit SARE’s website, and search for Donna’s project (Project Number CNE11-091).
Donna, an Erie PA native, saw an opportunity in her home region and was eager to do something about it. Luckily, for the small businesses and vineyards of the
Chautauqua-Lake Erie Wine Region, she was able to combine her vast amount of tourism experience with her strong personal tie to the region, to help fill in the tourism marketing gaps and bring a new level of economic vitality to her home.
To access the agritourism toolkit, visit SARE and search for grant CNE11-09 or contact Donna at quadri@nyu.edu.
Grant Deadlines
Partnership Grants – Due November 1st
Partnership Grants are for agricultural service providers–extension staff, consultants, nonprofits, state departments of agriculture, and others working in the agricultural community–who want to conduct on-farm demonstrations, research, marketing, and other projects with farmers as cooperators. Projects must take place on farms or directly involve farm businesses. Reviewers look for well-designed inquiries into how agriculture can enhance the environment, improve the quality of life, or be made more profitable through good stewardship. Grants are capped at $15,000.
Sustainable Community Grants – Due November 15th
Sustainable Community Grants are for projects that strengthen the position of sustainable agriculture as it affects community economic development. Communities and commercial farmers must benefit from these proposals, and the selection emphasis is on model projects that others can replicate. Grants are capped at $15,000.
Farmers Grants – Due November 27th
Farmer Grants are for commercial producers who have an innovative idea they want to test using a field trial, on-farm demonstration, or other technique. Farmer Grants let commercial producers explore new ideas in production or marketing; reviewers look for innovation, potential for improved sustainability and results that will be useful to other farmers. Projects should be technically sound and explore ways to boost profits, improve farm stewardship, or have a positive impact on the environment or the farm community. Grants are capped at$15,000.
