A very warm welcome to the people who work hard to feed us, every day. Without you, we’ll be starving. Most of you here are born in Tamil Nadu whereas I chose Tamil Nadu.
My grandparents are agriculturalists and a little agriculturalist exist in me too. I have planted Ragi, Mango trees, Coconut trees etc. In addition to roses, but on a very small scale. I know a little about the hard work that goes into agriculture.
When I heard the term ‘Agro-tourism’, I wondered what it meant. But as I learnt about it, I realized that I have been an Agro-tourist a few times. In US, we visited and stayed at Half-boon-bay and farms near about, where they grew pumpkins and pine trees. That was a very relaxing get-away from the busy city life. We got to see the simple life of farmers, eat the fresh-produce and bought back home several arts and crafts. This is a very good example of AT.
We also went to apple farms several times. We’d pay an entry fee, enjoy plucking the apples and having a picnic in apple farms. When we left, we’d weigh the apples and pay for them. This is another example of AT.
In AP, we had been to “Konaseema” where paddy is grown. We stayed in a farm, enjoyed the green landscapes, saw their culture, enjoyed the local food and even got to hear about local sports. That’s nothing but AT.
Foreign countries allow tourists to do agriculture with them. In some places, cheese making and chocolate making are showcased collecting an entry ticket.
This seminar will highlight many more examples and give you insight into ways you can also be an Agro-tourist host so you can do good business. I recently wondered how much revenue AT brings in world-wide and found out that it is a whopping 90 billion per year worldwide. That is equal to 800,000 crores. Unbelievable, right? India does 2% of that would be around 16,000 crores.
AT is a big business. I think with the right training and attitude; you can have a piece of that pie too. And I hope you’d benefit from this idea.
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