For
Immediate Release - July 1, 2003
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State’s
Agri-Tourism Being Inventoried
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(SPRING HILL, Tenn.) - Do you offer wagon tours of your farm? Sell cut-your-own
Christmas trees? If so, you are engaged in agri-tourism, and the University
of Tennessee Center for Profitable Agriculture wants to help your enterprise
be more successful.
Agri-tourism attractions are becoming extremely popular across the state.
They involve income-generating activities that combine elements of both
agriculture and tourism. Some typical agri-tourism enterprises include
agriculture-related museums, festivals and fairs, corn-mazes, farmers
markets, pick-your-own farms, wineries, on-farm tours, retail markets
and petting zoos.
Bed and breakfasts and enterprises that offer fee fishing are also considered
agri-tourism attractions.
As the first phase of an agri-tourism initiative, the Center for Profitable
Agriculture plans to inventory of the state’s existing agri-tourism
attractions. Megan Bruch, a marketing specialist with the UT Agricultural
Extension Service, said the center is in the process of contacting agricultural
agencies and groups to help identify existing attractions in the state.
“We need help in identifying these operations,” said Bruch.
“The success and value of the inventory depends greatly on assistance
that we receive in identifying existing agri-tourism ventures,”
she said.
The Agri-Tourism Initiative was unveiled in May by the Tennessee Departments
of Agriculture, Tourist Development, and Economic and Community Development
and the Center for Profitable Agriculture. The Center is a joint venture
of the University of Tennessee and the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation.
“The inventory will be instrumental in gaining the information necessary
to support and promote Tennessee’s agri-tourism industry,”
said Bruch.
If you are involved with or know of an agri-tourism attraction, please
send the business name and contact information (name and telephone number)
to the Center for Profitable Agriculture. You can e-mail the center at
cpa@utk.edu, or fax 931-486-0141, or
call 931- 486-2777. The deadline for submitting information is August
15, 2003. Bruch said the Center for Profitable Agriculture will follow-up
with each enterprise to obtain specific information that will assist with
industry research and promotion. The goal is to make the endeavor more
financially successful.# # # Contacts: Megan Bruch, 931- 486-2777; Patricia
McDaniels, 865-974-7141
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