Inspiring agritourism case studies
Tilma Group delivered a series of Inspiring Agritourism webinars on best practice case studies for Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council, as part of an agritourism development program run over several months.
The series includes
Alicia Vohland of Windy Acres Farm near Toowoomba on how she developed a social media following well before launching her business, from the ‘bare field’ stage, and trialled many offerings to figure out what makes the most sense financially.
Julie Schmidt of Scenic Rim Regional Council on developing a leading agritourism destination via an event and industry-wide collaboration.
Rachael Lang of Diamondvale Estate country cottages in Stanthorpe on surprising and delighting guests, added-on experiences, and collaboration with other local operators.
Suzannah Miller of Boho Cartel on a high-style glamping start up, and events, weddings and groups.
Neil and Rhiannon Druce of Junee Chocolate and Licorice Factory on using tourism to drive product sales, marketing, and creating a highly appealing experience.
Dan Walker of Longreach Station in outback Queensland experienced in storytelling to create an experience, and groups.
Alicia Vohland of Windy Acres Farm
Alicia’s lavender and bee farm offers open day events, bee keeping courses, products from the farm in an on-farm retail shop (such as soap and honey) which is open for only one part of the year.
Alicia shared how she developed a social media following well before launching her business, from the ‘bare field’ stage, and trialled many offerings to figure out what makes the most sense financially.
Contents
2:05 Alicia shares on how the family farm all started, sponsoring of bee hives, and hosting an agricultural trainee
15:18 Alicia shares about sharing your journey and creating connections and leveraging opportunities
20:36 Alicia shares about her farm open days, classes, on-farm photography and other experiences she offers
33:05 Keeping it real, Alicia shares about challenges the start up has experienced
39:30 Q&A with the host and participants
See Alicia’s presentation slides.
Key takeaways
Alicia started without a business plan, but today is more strategic: she has a plan and has mapped out how she spends her work week instead of running from task to task.
Alicia says yes to opportunities then figures out the details later; she uses her experiences from her pre-farm life in teaching to help her offer agritourism.
Alicia has a variety of offerings: sponsored bee hives, open days, workshops and classes, children’s activities, products for sale, and more.
Alicia uses the support of a school-based trainee who learns via practical experience on the farm.
Key to her success has been a focus on creating a community and building a following. “Don’t open the doors expecting people to be there waiting without putting in the effort to raise awareness.”
Offering meaningful experiences that people will love and recommend to others.
Her open season starts with a donation-based Easter egg and educational scavenger hunt for families that 5,000 attend.
She offers floristry classes and sunset yoga classes during Toowoomba’s Carnival of Flowers.
She offers a children’s honey harvest and morning tea experience, using a liability waiver (at your own risk) to support her insurance for risks such as from bees and uneven ground.
A business advisor helped her see that selling one $180 ticket for bee keeping course is easier than selling $180 worth of soaps, so retail sales are now add ons to ticketed activities. Take the time to figure out what will provide the biggest return for the least work.
Sharing Facebook posts into relevant Facebook groups has raised awareness of her business with locals (her main audience), as did being featured in a local magazine.
Collaborate - there is enough success out there for everyone.
Be real and authentic - realness is what we have to offer in regional Australia.
Julie Schmidt of Scenic Rim Regional Council
Julie shared on how Scenic Rim Regional Council developed a leading agritourism destination over a decade via the event Eat Local Month and industry-wide collaboration.
Contents
2:45 Julie shares on the Scenic Rim’s local economy, and how agritourism fits within it.
8:23 Julie shares on Eat Local Month - what it is and what it achieves.
19:07 Julie shares on Farm Gate Trail, two weekends of farm gate sales by the membership based local tourism organisation, Destination Scenic Rim.
21:33 Q&A with the webinar participants, such as how Council started developing agritourism, how Council encourages collaboration, and tips for other destinations on establishing an agritourism event.
See Julie’s presentation slides.
Key takeaways
Council has had a strategic focus to develop over a long timeframe via collaboration with industry what other destinations are now jealous of.
See Council’s Scenic Rim Agribusiness and Agritourism Three-Year Action Plan and 10-Year RoadmapEat Local Month started 12 years ago as Eat Local Week with 10 events, and has been gradually developed each year
Today Eat Local Month includes 120 events, which are mostly exclusively available during the event. Council delivers only Winter Harvest Festival
The festival achieves a $1.2 million economic impact from less than $20,000 in Council spend and from a team of three in Council (2 in events, 1 in tourism)
Everyone works to their strengths: Council does marketing, and producers deliver authentic experiences
The tourism team work closely with the planning team to facilitate new agritourism experiences and events
Eat Local Month is a 10-week marketing campaign
The festival aims to be Australia’s most authentic farm to fork food and farming experience - getting to experience authentic experiences is why people keep coming back. Experiences that aren’t authentic don’t resonate with people.
Its purpose is not to be a free event for the community but to deliver economic benefit for producers and tourism operators, because if they don’t participate, there is no event!
It also aims to enhance the destination appeal of the Scenic Rim for year-round visitation
If you want to start an agritourism event, figure out your region’s USP and authentic agritourism offering
Council hires a publicist to share agritourism stories year-round with the source market of visitors (southeast Queensland)
Rachael Lang of Diamondvale Estate
Diamondvale Estate comprises four luxurious cottages in a bush setting and a communal gathering hut by the creek with fireplace, comfy sofas, a dining table and kitchenette.
Rachael shared on surprising and delighting guests, added-on experiences, and collaboration with other local operators.
Contents
2:20 Video of Diamondvale Estate’s offering
4:04 Rachael’s presentation begins – about the Granite Belt, about the property
13:16 Events, groups, classes, and tours
15:46 How to surprise and delight guests and exceed their expectations
18:26 Why we do what we do – the story of young repeat visitor, Lexie
21:17 Partnerships with other businesses
26:06 Q&A with the host and participants such as on maintaining privacy; challenges (32:28); how the very collaborative membership-based Granite Belt Wine Tourism local tourism organisation works so well (36:54) and its relationship with Council (41:10), delivering Grazing the Granite Belt event and other initiatives of the organisation (42:52); developing add-on events such as workshops (45:13)
See Rachael’s presentation slides.
Key takeaways
Rachael and husband David’s vision is to maintain excellence in guest experience, and showcase the best of the region. “Enjoy what’s simple, remember what’s special.”
Rachael’s hospitality is personalised – she finds out who a guest is and why they are coming, such as to celebrate a birthday (most guests call to enquire and book, so Rachael can ask questions). She adds simple things that impress or add value to a guest – dropping a guest at a restaurant instead of them having to book a taxi, or fresh flowers from the garden in a room. She says discounts don’t impress or add value in her experience.
Rachael partners with local artisans, such as in offering pottery workshops on her property, and connects guests with their offerings.
Rachael makes sure she is out and about doing such as doing garden chores when guests arrive so guests know she is there and can say hi, but she and her husband have a private back deck for their own use, and they make space for guests to have their own space without them around.
Rachael believes in coopertition (cooperative competition), collaborating with other local operators to build the awareness of the destination and attract visitors to the region, and to encourage them to stay longer and spend more in more local businesses.
Suzannah Miller of Boho Cartel
Suzannah has a high-style glamping start up, and hosts events, weddings and groups. She shares on learnings from constructing a new tourism offering.
Starting with a picnic and event styling business, Suzannah expanded into having 6 bell tents that sleep groups of up to 20, and a communal hub with a pool with a view, a converted stable with a dining table that seats 20, a deck with pizza oven, seating areas, and a firepit.
Contents
1:50 Description of the business
2:57 How the business started
5:52 Description of the tourism offering
8:51 How the business was constructed
10:35 Partnerships
13:58 Challenges in starting the business
19:19 What she’d do differently if she started the business again (hindsight learnings)
21:12 Finding insurance
23:26 Approach to marketing
25:53 Next stages in developing Boho Cartel
28:36 Managing the expectations of urban dwellers about the country (e.g. spiders)
32:03 How is the business financially
33:34 Booking platforms
35:16 Access for people with disability
38:59 Suze’s recommended resources
Key takeaways
My intention was to create a magical serene retreat where guests feel they’ve stepped into a different world of luxury in nature that is high appeal, on-trend, and Instagrammable.
At the beginning I did a course called the Ultimate Glamping Business Start Up Guide by the author of the podcast The Business of Glamping and Unique Holiday Rentals.
Connecting with other nearby tourism operators through the local tourism organisation, High Country Hamlets, and the regional tourism organisation, Queensland Country Tourism, helped a lot as we were new to the region. It helped develop relationships and partnerships.
If I did it again, I would plan better, and plan my time and the tasks I had to do better, to reduce overwhelm.
Instagram is my best marketing tool – I’ve had to learn how to use it. Pinterest helped me learn what appeals to my target markets. To not have all my eggs in one basket, I’m now building my email database.
Online booking and online travel agents like Airbnb don’t really work for me, because I’m offering a tailored experience for each group that comes.
We’re now expanding into offering wellness retreats, and setting up a wedding venue, and we’re thinking about adding Zomes timber cabins which look like bell tents.
Suzannah’s recommended resources
The Business of Glamping and Unique Holiday Rental Podcast by Sarah Riley
Start a Glamping Business website by Glampitect
The Goal Digger Podcast by Jenna Kutcher
Online Marketing Made Easy Podcast by Amy Porterfield
The Mindset Mentor Podcast by Rob Dial
Neil and Rhiannon Druce of Junee Licorice and Chocolate Factory
Neil Druce began a licorice factory in a rural ‘rail and jail’ (non-tourism) town to value add to the family farm’s organic wheat, with the aim of attracting significant numbers of visitors.
Neil and his daughter Rhiannon share on using tourism to drive product sales, marketing, and creating a highly appealing experience. These two are good fun, so it’s easy listening!
“It was not how it was meant to go but tourism happened naturally. Once we saw the power of tourism, and how much everyone craves chocolate (we're on to a winner there) - why would you not create a tourism venue; why would you just be a manufacturer behind closed doors like Willy Wonka when everyone loves the idea of visiting a chocolate factory?” - Rhiannon
Contents
1:38 Introduction from Tilma Group: History of how Junee Licorice and Chocolate Factory began
3:12 The tourism offering today at the Factory
5:04 Rhiannon shares in her words how the licorice factory began (including the disaster of letting SBS film the first liquorice being made live on TV)
6:55 Adding the chocolate factory when they expected 200 at the launch but 6,000 came!
8:30 Adding the Corowa Whiskey Distillery in a tourism destination
11:17 What Neil has learned along the way in developing new agritourism experiences, and what he would do differently - having passion not just to make money; looking after people and filling a gap; adding to your family’s strengths (in his case, wheat farming)
13:00 Maintaining good relationships with all stakeholders
15:20 The value of diverse revenue streams - retail, wholesale, restaurant, events, tours, and more for business resilience; and attracting repeat sales - the business’ natural expansion; and how diversity (tourism and food) helped the business survive COVID impacts
20:00 What’s on offer for tourists, and how they decide what are the right things to offer
24:50 What’s next for the Chocolate Factory - current renovations
26:06 Critical success factors for the business - unique, appealing, immersive, Instagrammable experiences that enthrall and authentically represent us, our passion and our region
30:08 Partnerships, such as with accommodations
31:35 Developing and telling a good story
39:55 A question from a farmer in the audience about milling own flour on finding expertise and others willing to share their knowledge
45:42 Financing/funding and investing
49:24 What’s next for the family in agritourism - supporting our supply chain of cacao grower
Key takeaways
Neil started with a vision to create a tourism experience that would attract visitors from across Australia and beyond to a little unknown rural town
Today the chocolate factory sells products nationally and internationally, employs 60 locals, offers many immersive and joyful tourism experiences
Passion is really important because it’s quite a few years before you get a good return
Relationships are really important – with staff, stakeholders, customers...
Be innovative in the sense of don’t copy someone else but create something unique that you can immerse people in, where they can be enthralled and entertained with showmanship; something quirky so it’s Instagrammable
Be who you are and reflect your local area; tell your story, your passion will be contagious; put your own face behind your brand – that gets the most engagement
An interesting story creates an experience
On social media, do something different to stop people scrolling. Show something interesting.
To attract finance, write a really good business plan (which will also shows yourself that your plan will work)
Create a tourism network – don’t go it alone as the only tourism offering. Be friends with the competition and learn from them – even if they are similar to you. Visitors wont come for one experience – put together a 1-2 day itinerary or trail
Continue to enhance your experience
Outback Dan Walker of Longreach Station
Outback Dan’s successful transition from agricultural production to agritourism: In 2019, due to drought, Dan and his brother opening the gates of their family’s cattle station Camden Park Station 10km outside of Longreach to visitors eager to experience an authentic outback experience.
Today Dan and his wife host events and offer accommodation in Longreach for school groups, short-term visitors, workers, and independent travellers, in the ex-Longreach Pastoral College, now known as Longreach Station.
Contents and key takeaways
1:08 Dan’s transition to agritourism, starting with one-on-one four-hour-long tagalong tours, then hosting coach tours on the farm, and now focusing on school groups.
6:32 The mix of what Dan is doing in agritourism nowadays: today Dan is 100% involved in agritourism and not in agriculture anymore; 20% in events, 60% in tours and 20% in administration (such as on the phone with schools to attract school groups into the Outback).
8:25 The commitment it takes to develop agritourism over time, the agility to be flexible, and new skills needed to enter tourism. Dan naturally had larrakin and relationships skills. The most important skill he had to learn was listening to understanding the visitor in front of him. He and his wife leverage their complementary strengths (one being a people person and one being a great cook).
10:44 The tourism industry was very supportive and encouraged him to ‘have a go’. He found tourism is rewarding though it was hard during the first three years to get the business off the ground. Word of mouth recommendations and relationships brought coach groups.
13:57 The biggest personal hurdle Dan overcame in the beginning was reviews, and trying to keep everyone happy - putting yourself out there publicly, you can be criticised, and a bad review was a hinderance to the business, so he focused on going over and above to exceed guests’ expectations. He is more accepting of negative reviews now. Another challenges was tourism work seasonal and Dan had to find work elsewhere in the summer.
Today he hires 11 staff to deliver for school groups, but the feedback from guests is they want more of him – of the legendary Outback Dan – the brand he built around himself is now hard to manage as he is busy with running the bigger business.
18:22 The rationale behind focusing on groups rather than free and independent travellers (FITs) (solo travellers, couples, and families, travelling by themselves) was because FITs require more time and energy per person per dollar earned than groups, and there are regular coach trips to Longreach, so tapping into that existing market was possible.
21:08 Dan’s tips to attract groups: get started, and back yourself (believe in yourself). Start by meeting the tourism industry – the decision makers and those who know the industry well. Every business has a person at the heart of it – meet the people leading successful businesses. Get a better understanding of your markets (potential guests), and ask all your questions (there are no stupid questions).
Representing Australian agriculture is a great thing to be doing, and very rewarding. If you are proud of your industry, it won’t be hard work to share about it with guests.
24:50 Aim to give memorable and life-changing experiences. Protect your region’s culture by ensuring youth can experience it, and attract new residents to your community and to the agricultural industry, improving liveability.
Together Dan and others have made Longreach ‘the Noosa of the Outback’ – an iconic, popular tourism destination that residents can brag about coming from, and a place you have to visit to experience that feeling you get only by being in the Outback.
29:22 Dan’s final tip – seek out positive, energetic people who know the industry well – information is power, and it will help you know if tourism is right for you or not.
Learn more and stay connected
Find support to develop or grow your agritourism offering in Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council’s Agritourism Development Guide.
Join the Australian Agritourism Development Facebook group to connect with peers, ask for help, and stay up to date with resources such as grants.
