Whilst agritourism offers great value to farmers, it is important to note that it is not for everyone.

The below challenges and risks are important to consider before deciding to embark on an agritourism development on your farm.

Mentoring can help reduce the risks and challenges and maximise benefits for your family.

• Tourism takes time to establish, particularly if you need development approval to build new infrastructure and build up a clientele
• Customer-facing agritourism (where the farmer interacts with the guests) can be demanding as it requires social skills, customer service skills, and marketing skills
• Tourism can place demands on your down time and require you to be available when you’d rather not (though agritourism can, and should be, designed around your time and skills)
• Tourism can result (but not necessarily) in a loss of privacy or an intrusion into family life
• Some types of agritourism require licenses, permits and new insurance to operate
• There is regulatory and liability risk when hosting guests on your farm which are different to normal farming
• Tourists travel seasonally and tourism spend is considered discretionary (and therefore can decrease in tough economic times)

Here are some additional websites that will help decide if Agritourism is right for you:

• Australian Regional Tourism – Agritourism: https://regionaltourism.com.au/project/agritourism/
• Agritourism Queensland – https://agritourismqueensland.au/
• CSIRO https://research.csiro.au/foodag/premium-interactions/experiences-and-tourism/