Title: Agritourism in Colorado: The Visitors, the Economics and the Opportunities
1Agritourism in Colorado The Visitors, the
Economics and the Opportunities
Photo Tammy Mattics
Photo Randy Mills
Photo Pat Martin
Photo Joel Boymel
- Dawn Thilmany Martha Sullins
- Colorado State University Extension
- Department of Ag Resource Economics
- March 2007
2Growing Agritourism in Colorado
- Understanding the landscape
- Producer inventory, 2005 Colorado Dept of
Agriculture - Agritourism directory on-line, 2007 Colorado
Dept of Agriculture - Producer inventory, 2007 Colorado Dept of
Agriculture CSU
Photo Nat Coalson
3Growing Agritourism in Colorado
- Understanding Colorados agritourists
- Consumer survey, 2007 Colorado Dept of
Agriculture CSU
Photo Karen Seim
4Growing Agritourism in Colorado
- Supporting businesses communities
- 3 producer workshops (Steamboat, Akron)
- 2 scheduled workshops (La Junta, Cortez, Delta)
- Numerous community outreach presentations
- 4 fact sheets and more to come for tech. asst.
Photo Mary Erlenborn
5In Colorado, agritourism includes
- Outdoor recreation (fishing, hunting, wildlife
photography, horseback riding). - Educational experiences (farm and cannery tours,
cooking classes, wine tasting, cattle drives,
farm work). - Entertainment (harvest festivals, corn mazes).
- Hospitality services (farm and ranch stays,
guided tours, outfitter services). - On-farm direct sales (u-pick operations, roadside
stands). - Off-the-farm direct sales (farmers markets,
county and state fairs, special events).
Photo Jim Deeds
Photo Tina Beedy
Photo Carol Lauer
Photo Susan Hickel
6Why is agritourism important?
- The travel and tourism industry has become
increasingly important in the Intermountain West - 90 of total employment in some counties is in
the industry - A total of 106 Western rural counties had more
than 1,000 travel and tourism jobs in 2000 - Ag income diversification
- 10.1 million in recreational services in 2002
- Moffat had highest recreational income at 1.3
million (63 of total farm income) - Tourism as Ag Industry Education/Promotion Tool!!
Source Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City,
Economic Review, 2003 USDA Census of Ag., 2002.
7Targeting traveler segments
- Cluster visitors by like characteristics
- Planning
- Mode of travel
- Activities chosen
- Expenditures, etc.
- Easier to develop cohesive marketing strategies
than for average traveler - We can define them
- .target those with greatest potential
- ..and create recommendations
8Agritourism visitors by cluster
Out-of-State Activity Seekers 97 out of
state 970,000/year Spend 228/day Mostly
unplanned
Family Ag Adventurers 76 out of state 4.5
million/year 153/day plan for agritourism
travel long distances
Loyal CO Enthusiasts 62 in-state 3.6
million/year 110/day diverse agritourism
activities return often
Visitorship based on estimates of 13.1 million
agritourists visiting Colorado in 2006.
9Agritourism visitors by cluster
In-State Explorers 62 in-state 3.9
million/year 132/day least interested in
agritourism but culinary events may be key
Accidental Tourists 65 out of
state 424,000/year 87/day no leisure planning
10Economic contribution
- Overall, 13.2 million visitors engaged in some
agritourism in 2006 - Total contribution to economy estimated at 2.2
billion with 1.26 billion in direct activity - 1.7 billion from out of state ? bigger impact
- 14 of total tourism by CTO estimates
- 14,665 in direct
- employment (7 of tourism)
- Will these numbers be
- maintained or grow
- in 2007 and beyond?
Photo Spencer George
11Looking ahead to Partnerships networks
Of 398 in-state 500 out-of-state
travelers. Multiple responses given
54 used 1 information source 18 used 2
sources 11 used 3 different ones.
12Looking ahead to Community-level considerations
Ave. satisfaction w/activities1.58 (scale 1-5)
less satisfaction w/some infrastructure
No. times mentioned across all respondents
13Planning forProducer concerns
Source 2007 Producer Survey, Colorado Dept. of
Agriculture. N91
14Challenges
- Shifting visitors from unplanned to planned
agritourism - Increases expenditures at local level
- Rounding out trips 87 of all travelers were
satisfied with their visits - But 13 would have liked more agritourism and
other activities to round out their trip would
have paid for it - Creating impression that Colorado is a good
value trip for them, especially those with large
expense to travel - Especially those for whom CO is a big, planned
expense on leisure - Improving tourism infrastructure for agritourism
- Tying more on-farm ranch activities to
food-oriented events - Directional signage to make travelers more aware
directed - Interpretative signage for those wanting an
educational experience
15Partnerships to Address Challenges
- Colorado Tourism Office
- Expand information and promotion through these
popular planning resources - Colorado Department of Agriculture
- Directories, MarketMaker
- Other Partnerships
- USDA Rural Development programs, Division of
Wildlife, County Ag Boards and Economic
Development agencies
16www.coloradoagritourism.com
For Consumers
17Colorado Farm Fresh
- 24th Edition
- New! Agritourism Activities
- Over 100 farms that sell direct to public
- 90,000 copies distributed statewide
18New Resource for Promotion
- Market Maker is a free tool to
- Help Consumers find Producers
- Help Producers Promote their Operations and
Products - Assess the food and agriculture of an area
Providing an inventory and great networking
resource
19Search Example
- Can zoom into or out of an area.
- Leverages databases and directories
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22Promotion Possibilities
- MarketMaker is coming to Colorado!!
- Collaboration of CDA and CSU Extension
- We will add the agritourism directory
- Important to get everyones information
- Develop your Web presence now
- Other Features
- Buyers/sellers forum
- More search capabilities
23More Details
24Who are Colorados agritourists?
- The Average Traveler to Colorado agritourism in
2005-06 - 57 out-of-state (AZ, NM or UT), varies by region
- 37 had incomes over 75,000/year while only 12
earned under 30,000/year - 46 years old and 73 married
- 20 parents w/children under 6 while 22 have
kids 6 years old - 15 are retired couples 28 are younger couples,
no kids - 15 are singles
- 90 identified themselves as White (7 of these
Hispanic) - How does this affect your marketing strategies??
- Corresponds to other surveys on general
heritage traveler characteristics
25Resources
- Fact sheets at http//dare.agsci.colostate.edu/csu
agecon/extension/pubstools.htm - Of Wine and Wildlife Assessing Market Potential
for Colorado Agritourism - Colorados Agritourists Who are the Adventurers,
the Seekers and the Explorers? - Agritourism in Colorado A Closer Look at
Regional Trends - Web site
- www.coloradoagritourism.com
26What are travelers spending?
Total expenditures () Total expenditures () Total expenditures per day () Total expenditures per day ()
Mean SD Mean SD
Out-of-state 887.36 1332.09 157.01 207.53
In-state 391.25 708.88 113.61 153.00
Total 676.06 1136.05 138.61 187.29
Significantly different at a 95 confidence
level.