It was very exciting to hear from Dot at Rostrata Country House, who told us that since listing on our site she is starting to see hits on her website from all around the world. Recently she took a booking from a client in the UK who told her that he found her farm stay on our site.

I checked today and now we have had visitors to the site from 42 different countries and they are staying on the site for a while and searching around. It’s great to see how powerful our name is at attracting visitors from all around the world!

Our advice to farmers is to upgrade to a premium listing while the price is still low, set at $9 per month for a period of 2 years. Dot has already recouped what she paid!

Give us a call if you need more information, cheers Pauline

Don’t forget for your January holidays to source farms as an alternative accommodation source. Many farmers offer accommodation within easy distance of the beach or by lakes and rivers for those who like to fish. Accommodation is from 5 star retreats to family self contained so search through our pages to find somewhere to lay your head down over the summer. We wish you a safe and happy holiday season, cheers Pauline

The ABC has reported “There are reports of damage to buildings in north-west Western Australia as Cyclone Laurence passes over the coast.” (http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/12/21/2777893.htm)

Our thoughts and wishes are with the agritourism operators and all the farming communities that are literally weathering the strorm as I write; our hearts and wishes are with you all. Kindest regards Pauline

Agritourism is thriving in Western Australia! It’s a fascinating state to visit as it has such a broad range of agritourism businesses; from 5 star retreats with the very best in food and wine to outback cattle stations where we can experience quintessential Australia. Browsing through the different areas in WA certainly highlights all this country has to offer, have a look for yourself at some of the amazing experiences and some of the great food and wine on offer for the ‘foodies’. Happy browsing! regards Pauline

In researching the states for entries on the website we have come across some wonderful examples of food and wine provision in our regional areas. A little gem we came across, which is now in our featured listings is the providore “Slice of Orange” in, where else but, Orange in NSW. Looking at their tempting hampers certainly had my mouth watering and I thought what a great idea for a useful Christmas gift. Hop on their site and have a look. Remember everything we buy that features regional produce is helping our farming communities. Regards Pauline

A recent comment made to me was there was no real emphasis on food on our site. We certainly have tried to include restaurants or cafes on farms and wineries but we do need to also highlight local food venues that highlight local produce.

The philosophy of our site is to support the farming communities through a range of forms of agritourism, whereby, consumers either buy directly from the farmers at the farm gate, try food and wine on the farm, or perhaps savour food that is grown in the local region and prepared by the many wonderful chefs working in the many regional hotels and restaurants, who have bought produce directly from local farmers. All these avenues support the farming communities and we are therefore happy to inlcude them on the site.

What we need from you is the names and details of these places. We have the suggest a listing section on our site and we’d love to know about all the great places that you know about so please use the suggestion box. The site will only be as good as the information we get from all of you. It is important though that you check with the food businesses that they are definitely supporting local farmers before we pop them up.

We look forward to your many suggestions, regards Pauline

Sunday 25 October saw the start of the agritourism revolution with the launch of our new website. We believe the site lays the way for major changes in the way Australians view the concept of agritourism.

The terminology which is currently being used all over the world is starting to catch on in Australia and not before time. One must ask how much international business are we missing out on because we are not using this global term?

We recently had a young couple staying with us, he was from Italy and she was from Korea. He told me all they wanted to do was have an agritourism holiday in Australia but was very disappointed when he Googled agritourism in Australia and found nothing.

Thankfully our new website has fixed this problem and if you try the same Google entry now you’ll happily find us first on the list! We’re even beating Tourism Australia!

For the first time in this country travellers can now log onto one site in order to find all their farm tourism needs in one place; accommodation or farm stays, activities, tours, wineries, local produce and organic foods, even weddings and events on farms. The list is endless. We hope you enjoy your journey into rural Australia and all that it offers on the site.

A huge congrats to Lauren Mathers from Barham who recently took out her new title at the Royal Melbourne Show. Lauren is very enthusiastic about rural tourism and agritourism in particular. She’d like to see Australia become a place where young people can easily make the choice to stay on the land with many and varied opportunities, especially agritourism. We hope to work with Lauren to see her dream come true.

Good luck Lauren

Our new website is just around the corner and it’s time for us to find as many operators as possible to include on the site in order to build a central hub of information for anyone wanting to travel into rural Australia. We’d like to see the public reconsidering their holiday options and turn to rural Australia for both short and longer breaks. With the plethora of wonderful products we have out there this is not impossible but we probably do need to make it easier for people to find the information they require. Agritourism Australia’s site will provide this platform so the travelling public can find food and beverage options, accommodation, events, and products for sale at the farm gate all in one spot for easy planning purposes for their next long or short break.

If you or someone you know would like to be included on the site please do not hesitate to contact us by emailing pauline@agritourismaustralia.com.au

All agritourism businesses in Australia may have a basic listing free of charge. A once off opening special will be offered to farmers opting to take out the extended information option, including photos, full product description, the opportunity to add specials etc and control of their information page for $99 for the first year. Farmers taking out the extended information option will soon be able to access the Google Maps links and a direct booking link for accommodation providers.

To be included in the website launch which we hope will attract some media please contact us as soon as possible, regards Pauline

Hi all thought I’d just point out about the possibilty of fellowships to study a skill we need in Australia. I started my agritourism venture with one of these and it’s been an amazing journey so I’d fully recommend giving it a go if you can think of a skill shortage. The scope is broad, I studied how they market agritourism while one of my colleagues, who received a fellowship the same year as I, went to Italy to study how the Italians make their Prosecco sparkling wine, you are only limited by your imagination.

Go to the link www.issinstitute.org.au for more details, applications due in October for most.

Good luck, Pauline