November, 2004
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| From the State Travel Director
In Illinois, nearly 80 percent--or 2.85 million acres--of total land mass is devoted to farming. Corn accounts for 39.5 percent of the total receipts, followed by beans, hogs, cattle, dairy, wheat and greenhouse plants. A recent travel article on cnn.com indicated that agritourism was sprouting up across the country as a growing number of Americans are rediscovering their rural roots and the countryside’s simple pleasures. That trend is most certainly blossoming right here in Illinois. Tourists are becoming increasingly interested in learning experiences as well as outdoor activities. They are more and more curious about food production and seek to enjoy the unique (to them) experience of picking, cutting, digging and/or preparing their own meals. More frequent and shorter trips, increasing interest in our heritage and participating in “natural” experiences are trends that strongly support agritourism. Farmers benefit through diversification of their business interests, from increased profits and even from the satisfaction of providing a valuable service. Consumers benefit by having additional options available to them such as new, fun and even educational experiences to help them develop a better understanding of Illinois agriculture. Communities and the tourism industry benefit through added tourism traffic, more and better options and increased spending since tourists usually stop at nearby communities, shop, eat, stay overnight and take advantage of other tourism opportunities. While agritourism may be a relatively new endeavor to Illinois, it is firmly established throughout Europe and other regions of the world. England has a countrywide farm holiday organization that offers a farm stay directory at tourist and visitors centers. The British government offers financial incentives to farmers to be involved in agritourism. In France, hikers and bicyclists can follow a map along a network of trails from farm to farm. There are many potential growth segments for agritourism in Illinois. Among the many options are wine tours, cooking classes associated with pairing food and wine, herb farming, agricultural/historic attractions, hay rides/stagecoach rides, festivals and even shrimp farming. For the most part, agritourism in Illinois is currently in the development stage. While we certainly have some fabulous agritourism sites that are up and ready for visitors, much more work needs to take place to ensure that we are providing experiences that are worth visiting. To cite just one example of the many agritourism destinations in Illinois, we can look to Hardy’s Reindeer Ranch. Located in Rantoul, Hardy’s advertises itself as “An Alaskan Reindeer Ranch – A Wild West Chuckwagon BBQ on a Midwest Farm." Hardy's emphasizes what makes it unique, which is the opportunity to interact with actual reindeers shipped from Alaska and raised on Midwest farms. This is called "The Reindeer Experience Tour.” The ranch also offers hayride farm tours, “Branson Style” entertainment and the Barn Gift Shop. Hardy’s is just one of the many agritourism attractions that Illinois has to offer. Through aggressive marketing and strategic partnerships, there is no end to the potential of this growing industry. IBOT is pleased to be part of this partnership. We are proud of our agricultural community and, through agritourism, we look forward to sharing the Illinois farming tradition with travelers from all walks of life.
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One of the newest and fastest-growing trends in our industry is agritourism. This sector of the tourism industry entails visiting a working farm or any agricultural, horticultural or agribusiness operation. Illinois has more than 1,200 agritourism destinations that are run out of farms, ranches or related facilities, and that are commercially operated for the production of goods/services as well as for the enjoyment of visitors.
