How To Bring Visitors From All Over The World To Your Farm And Earn An Extra Income
Hi, my name is Stephen Loke and I run an agritourism business in my small durian farm in Bentong, Pahang, Malaysia. Every season we have lots of visitors from all over the world visit our small farm.
​​
Are you interested in:
-
Bringing visitors from all over the world to your farm?
-
Earn extra income in your small farm to supplement your existing income?
-
Create an agritourism business that brings in 2-3 times your existing sales from produce?
-
Learning how to market your farm through social media, SEO and Google My Business?
-
How to become the top Google search result for your "fruit / produce" search term
-
How to have lots of people searching and finding what you offer through Google
-
Becoming a popular destination for tourists from all over the world?​
-
Avoid the problems and pitfalls of starting an agritourism business
​
I have done that and now I would like to teach you to do that as well.
Click on picture to read the review on Google
Click on picture to read the review on Google
I Help Farm Owners Like You Turn Their Farm Into Global Tourist Destinations
Imagine waking up each day knowing that your farm attracts visitors from all over the world.
What if you could turn your farm into a global tourist destination? This is a picture of my Japanese guests coming to my durian farm
Every Season, I Receive Visitors From All Over The World To My Durian Farm
A farm is a place where surprisingly many people like to visit. When I first started my durian farm tour, I did not expect that my farm will become a popular tourist destination. In just a very short time, my farm started to receive visitors from all over the world.
​
Tourists come from as far as :
​
-
China
-
Hong Kong
-
Japan
-
Singapore
-
Indonesia
-
Australia
-
Germany
-
Great Britain
-
America
-
Canada
-
Hawaii
-
Macau
​
​
Ever since I embraced agritourism in my farm, my income and sales have soared. I also get numerous deals and partnerships with large companies
.jpeg)
Visitors From Hong Kong enjoying durians in my farm
Learn how to make your visitors love your farm
Visitor from Osaka, Japan visiting our farm
.jpeg)
An Italian who loves durian, flying all the way to eat durians at my farm
.jpeg)
With the right approach, you can get visitors from all over the world come to your farm
I have stumbled upon the secret on how to get visitors from all over the world to my farm. And I would love to teach you how to do the same so that your farm can also welcome international visitors from all over the world.
Imagine Having 100 - 200 Visitors Coming To Your Farm Each Week
Let's imagine you have a strawberry farm or an avocado farm or an apple farm or an orange farm...you get the idea...
​
Every week you are able to sell 500 Kilograms of the fruit at wholesale prices. That would be a great income for you. But wholesale prices are not the ideal price that a farmer wants.
​
If you have 100-200 visitors (or more) coming to your farm each week, you could:
​
-
Sell the same 500 Kilograms of fruit at retail prices thus making more profits
-
If your fruits are of good quality you could even sell at premium prices!
-
Charge an entrance fee for each visitor
-
Give additional farm tour experiences and charge an extra fee for it
​
Even making an extra $300-$500 sales a day from visitors will help your bottom line tremendously
My farm is a popular tourist destination for young families with children. Not only do I get to give children an educational experience I get to charge an entrance fee that helps my farm. You can do the same as well!
Small groups of friends who love and enjoy nature will flock to my farms as well. You can also learn how to target and bring visitors who will love your farm! That's me on the far left with my visitors!
With lots of visitors to your farm, you can charge them for extra experiences. Here I do charge my visitors a small extra fee for a four wheel drive adventure into the farm. When you have lots of visitors, the possibilities are endless
3 Reasons Why You Should Start Agritourism And Have Tourist To Your Farm
There are many reasons why you should bring visitors to your farm. Among the most compelling reasons are these:
1. Diversify your income
The most important reason why you should start an agritourism business is because it can add to your existing income. With rising costs of running a farm, the income from tourism can supplement and turn your farm into a profit.
​
Offerings such as fruit picking, ATV rides and four wheel adventures just like what I did, can add extra income to your struggling farm.
2. Sell Directly To Consumers
If you are a farmer you will know the pain of selling your produce to middle men. The middle men profits from farmers and buy at lower prices selling them at a nice profit to grocery shops which eventually sell higher to end users.
​
If you have lots of visitors to your farm, you will be able to sell your produce at market prices to consumers. This will add to your bottom line
3. Year Round Income Opportunities
Whether in season or off season, agritourism can create a year round income for your farm. That way you be making money most of the time of the year without needing to wait for season to come.
​
This added layer of income adds to your peace of mind throughout the entire year where you will be able to feed your family and not worry about where to have money during non season months.
The Biggest Problem For Agritourism Is How To Attract Visitors To Your Farm
If you are not famous and if you do not have a history behind your farm or product it can be very difficult to attract visitors to your farm.
​
But we need to start somewhere isn't it?
​
When I first started my agritourism business, I create a website and then a Facebook page. I thought that if I could bring a few people each week to my farm, then it would have been an achievement.
​
Then some tourists from Singapore found me and once they came, the ball keeps rolling and many many people started to come to my farm.
​
Through my experience, I have stumbled upon a way to attract visitors to my farm.
1. How To Show Up On Google Search Results
You may be a small farmer with a small farm. Or you may be a big farm that still lack that star power to attract visitors. However, do not worry!
​
The presence of Google has leveled the playing field and all you need to do is to know how to be on the first page of Google search result for your particular term.
​
Many people are able to find my farm and regard my farm as a great destination because I appear on the first page of Google search result.
​
I will teach you how to appear on the first page of Google and how to harness this technology to bring visitors to your farm from all over the world.
My website appears at the first page and first result. Bloopy Durians is my page. I will teach you how to rank high in Google for your search term. This will draw many visitors to your farm.
2. How To Build A Website That Tells Your Farm's Story And Drive Lots Of Visitors From All Over The World To Your Farm
A website is extremely important as a salesperson. This is a virtual salesperson that does the job of promoting your farm. While you may think that a website is outdated, the presence of a website can really help drive targeted customers that really desire what you have to offer.
​
The world is a big place. When you have a website, people from all over the world can read what you have to offer.
​
The way that you write will determine whether you are able to attract visitors to your farm. I will teach you:
-
how to create a website without much tech knowledge.
-
how to write in a way that attracts targeted visitors to your site
-
how to keep your visitors on your site for a long time
-
how to make visitors contact you without you needing to spend time and effort contacting them
3. How To Build A Social Media That Will Attract Visitors To Your Farm
Social media like Youtube, Facebook and Instagram are very popular tools for businesses. While you may not need them to succeed, a certain presence on social media can help people to make that final decision whether to come to your farm or not.
​
You don't really needs thousands or millions of followers. All you need is a presence so that people who are really interested in your farm to have a glimpse of your farm through social media.
​
While my social media accounts do not have a huge following, I have found that my visitors really study what I have to offer through social media.
3 Reasons Why You Should Attract International Visitors To Your Farm
As I started my agritourism business, I realized that local visitors as well as international visitors flock to my farm. I also realize that there is a difference between local visitors and international visitors.
​
Here are 3 reasons why you should learn to attract international tourists to your farm.
1. International Tourists Are Willing To Pay More For Your Farm Experience
Remember the time when you travelled overseas to a foreign country. How did you feel? Were you excited? Were you happy?
​
Every tourist that travels to a new country tend to view the experience as unique.
​
What is normal and mundane to you might be an adventure for overseas tourists.
​
When they are in a happy mood and it is their first time seeing a new things, they are much more willing to spend their hard earned money.
​
With international visitors you can:
​
-
Create better and unique farm experiences and charge them more for it
-
Offer better products at a higher price for them to eat or take back home
​
The possibilities of making more income from your farm is endless with international visitors. While locals may not be willing to pay for the experiences that your farm gives, international visitors are willing to open their wallets to try something new and unique.
Visitors from Germany and Thailand visit my durian farm
2. International Visitors To Your Farm Can Make Your Farm Widely Know Throughout The World
As more and more international visitors come to your farm, your farm will be widely known all over the world.
​
A good experience in a farm will ensure good word of mouth being spread to their family, friends and countrymen. In fact, Facebook and social media makes it easy for them to post about where they have been.
​
This in turns makes your farm widely known without you doing much publicity.
​
For me, my first customers were international visitors from Singapore. Since then, I have many visitors from all over the world.
3. It Makes Your Farm A Tourist Destination And Builds Up Your Farm's Reputation In Your Country
If you are able to attract international visitors to your farm, you will surprise many of your neighbours and also perhaps the officials in the government.
​
This in turn build up your name, your reputation and sets your farm apart as a top tourist destination in your country.
​
With such a reputation there will be many top companies that may find your for your produces. You and your farm will be famous in your country.
Your farm could be an outing for international visitors and their farmily
It always amazes me how families from another country can fly in and visit my farm. My farm is a tourist destination and yours can also be too!
How To Get Visitors Excited To Come Visit Your Farm
Visitors coming to your farm is one thing...
​
What if you could get them excited to come to your farm? It will definitely make a huge difference. If a visitors is excited, then you are off to a good start.
​
Usually, they will enjoy the farm and have a wonderful experience which eventually make them want to visit again.
​
The best part is this...
​
They will recommend your farm to other people and their friends. And with the power of the internet it can spread wide and fast.
​
Take a look at the message by my visitors below
Most of the visitors who come to my farm look forward to the experience. When they leave they are happy and thus leave me with good reviews.
​
I will teach you:
​
-
how to make your visitors feel you give them a 5 star customer service
-
how to make them feel excited even before coming to your farm
-
how to make them want to come back again and again in the future
-
how to make them become a loyal customer for the rest of their life
-
how to make them leave your farm with some of the best memories of their lifetime
How You Can Build A Thriving Agritourism Business That Bring Visitors From All Over The World
Agritourism is not new.
​
In fact, some farms have turned to agritourism to help support their farm. Some generate a second income. Some eventually have agritourism as their main source of income.
​
You may not know this but agritourism:
​
-
Is a great way to bring in a second income to your farm
-
Agritourism can be a big game changer that brings in lots of income to your farm
-
Many young people and families are turning to farms for their vacation
-
Agritourism is a growing industry that is often overlook by many people
I receive many visitors and some of them are young family with young kids. Turns out they are one of my best customers. Young families are willing to spend to entertain, educate and give their children a different kind of experience in a farm
You can create many activities in a farm that appeal to many visitors. Here I let my visitors open a durian and this participation enables the family members to laugh and take videos and have fun together
Visitors from Taiwan coming to my farm and looking at durian trees. What may seem boring to you can be interesting to visitors from all over the world.
With our private coaching, you will learn how to harness the power of agritourism.
​
You will learn:
​
-
How to create a good impression on international visitors even before they land in your country
-
How to draw visitors from all over the world to experience your farm
-
How to attract local, regional and visitors from your own country
-
How to build a thriving agritourism business that brings you additional income every season
​
If you want to learn how to build a great agritourism business, don't hesitate to contact me where we can start our coaching session.
How To Get Recognition From The Government And Authorities
Did you know that you can become so famous that even government agencies and tourism authorities start to take note of you?
​
That is what happened to me.
​
And here with the coaching sessions and education, I want to teach you how to achieve that as well.
We were invited to supply durians to an event hosted by the mayor of Kuala Lumpur (the capital city of Malaysia). You can also learn to do the same. Learn our secret on how to get events such as these.
My wife with the deputy ambassador of Croatia to Malaysia.
Me and my wife with the representative from Kuala Lumpur Tourism Association. Learn how you can be a part and be invited by tourism associations to supply fruits to their events.
Our team getting a recognition from the Mayor Of Kuala Lumpur for our efforts in promoting tourism. Having a recognition such as these will help boost your status and draw lots of visitors to your farm.
It is never easy to stand out in a sea of competition. There are probably thousands of farms out there thinking of the same thing. But to get a national recognition is not an easy thing.
​
With our coaching and consultation plus education you will learn how to get the recognition and position your farm as a leading authority in your field.
How To Have Tour Guides And Operators Recommend And Bring Visitors To Your Farm
As I ran my agritourism business I stumbled upon how to get more visitors to my farm. You see the tourism industry is run by tour operators and tour guides.
​
They often bring bus loads of foreign tourists and this can help boost the popularity of your farm which in the end boosts your income.
​
But the problem is this...
​
How do you get tour operators and tour guides to know who you are? How do you get popular enough for them to even think about you?
​
Don't worry, I will teach you:
​
-
How to attract tour guides to want to bring tourists to your farm
-
How to keep tour guides and tour operators keep on recommending your farm to their customers
​
You may ask yourself, why do I need to be popular among tour guides and operators?
​
Well the reason is simple, if they can bring 60 visitors to your farm in one afternoon, it is better for you. You need to spend less on publicity and the crowd helps your bottom line.
​
Your energy to serve 10 people is the same as serving 60 people. But the amount of $$ earned is higher with a large group than a smaller group.
How To Have People Fly From Half Way Across The World To Learn From You And Seek Advice From You
One day someone whatsapp me and said that he and his friend wanted to visit my farm. They said they wanted to learn a bit about durian cultivation.
​
Turns out that they are from Indonesia. His boss flew in from New York to Indonesia and then both the boss and the assistant flew in from Indonesia to visit my farm.
​
Once they were here, they told me that their main purpose of coming to Bentong, Pahang was to see me.
​
I was shocked.
​
Turns out that the boss wanted to help farmers in Indonesia plant 30,000 durian trees and they wanted to learn how to cultivate it.
I don't think I am the best durian farmer in the world. But because my farm is a top destination for durian enthusiasts these visitors came all the way to seek advice from me.
​
I was very honoured to be able to give and share my experience of cultivating durians to them.
​
Perhaps you can also do the same.
​
Someday you may be able to do consulting work and earn a nice fee from there.
The Many 5 Star Google Reviews On My Business Page Speaks For Itself
Below is a screenshot of my farm business on Google. While I may not have 10000 reviews and millions of visitors, I have been able to draw 50-100 visitors to my farm every week during season. For a small farm, that is all you need to earn 2-3 times your produce. You can check out my farm at www.bloopydurians.com
With a small farm and a highly rated Google review, I have been able to generate a nice income from Agritourism. Visitors from all over the world like America, Indonesia, China, Australia and many more come to my farm. Click on image above to check out my business of Google
The above was the screenshot from a previous season. Below is the new screenshot of a new season. From 85 Google Reviews, it has increased to 152 Google reviews and I am still able to maintain a high Google Rating.
​
These ratings are very important because visitors nowadays tend to read Google reviews before making a decision to come to your farm or not.
Even if you do not have thousands of Google Review, it does not matter. As a farm you do not need a lot of Google reviews. What you really need is genuine detailed Google reviews from satisfied customers.
​
Trust me, these genuine reviews that are not bought are read by many people and they will make the decision to come to your farm through these reviews.
​
Take a look at the amount of customer interactions below. My business have 2608 customer interactions. And these are just people who are searching.
​
One person who search about your farm may bring 10 to 100 people to your farm.
How To Create Your Own Website Easily Without Much Tech Knowledge Where People From All Over The World Can Learn About Your Farm
Below is a screenshot of my simple website.
​
It is simple and not a fancy one but it does the job of:
-
letting my visitors know what I have to offer
-
the writings and words draw visitors to have a desire to come to my farm
-
Enables them to contact me either by phone or by whatsapp
As a farm you do not need a lot of visitors to your site.
​
The reason is simple, the person who is doing the research will probably bring 5,10 or even 100 people to your farm.
​
So what this means is if there are 30-50 visitors a day to your website and 3-5 people are interested to come, there might be 20 to 50 people who might visit your farm.
​
These people will be the family and friends of the person who will be reading your website and what you have to offer.
​
Here are some reasons why having a website for your farm is so important:
​
-
It brings targeted visitors from Google and other search engines to you
-
It brings the right type of visitors that are actively searching for what your farm has to offer
-
It enables you to catch visitors and build an email list
-
It tells the story of your farm and what unique things you have to offer
-
It acts like a salesman right from the very beginning and build warm leads to your farm
-
It can create excitement for those who want to come to your farm
​
If you do not know how to build a website, it is alright.
​
You do not need to have a lot of tech knowledge. I will teach you how to use an easy website builder. Even if you do not know how to build a website, you can easily build a simple website from scratch.
How To Get Famous Influencers, Youtubers and Tik Tokers To Come And Film At Your Farm
As my farm became more and more famous, I started to get messages from people who are famous on social media.
​
Turns out they wanted to shoot videos of my farm.
​
Imagine having a YouTuber that has 1.6 million followers come to your farm and shoot a video there. That is what happened to me!
​
Imagine a Tik Toker who has millions of views on their reels come to your farm and shoot videos there.
​
The exposure will make your farm famous and the ripple effect will be more recognition and visitors to your farm!
Imagine a YouTuber with a million subscribers coming to your farm to film. That's what happened to me!
It was an honour to have a YouTuber with more than a million followers come to my farm to film a documentary.
I will teach you how to attract great filmmakers and influencers to come and visit your farm and make videos.
By following my advice and growing your farm's popularity, you will soon catch the eye of influencers and people who have large followings on social media platforms such as Tik Tok
Here a very popular local online fruit seller came to my farm to shoot some videos
Influencers are always looking for places and farms to make content for their channel. You can be among their top destinations as well.
The above was shot at my farm. If I can do it, you can also attract famous Tik Tokers to your farm. You just have to follow the step by step techniques to attract them which I will show you
How To Create Your Own Website Easily Without Much Tech Knowledge Where People From All Over The World Can Learn About Your Farm
Below is a screenshot of my farm business on Google. While I may not have 10000 reviews and millions of visitors, I have been able to draw 50-100 visitors to my farm every week during season. For a small farm, that is all you need to earn 2-3 times your produce. You can check out my farm at www.bloopydurians.com
With a small farm and a highly rated Google review, I have been able to generate a nice income from Agritourism. Visitors from all over the world like America, Indonesia, China, Australia and many more come to my farm. Click on image above to check out my business of Google
Learn From An Experienced Agritourism Operator
My name is Stephen Loke and I run a durian farm agrotourism business in Malaysia. Perhaps some of you have heard what a durian is. It is not a well known fruit outside of Asia but it has given me success in running an agroutourism business.
​
I have tourists from all over the world coming to my farm.
​
People from China, Hong Kong, India, Macau, Germany, Australia, Hawaii, United States, Indonesia, Japan, Canada, Thailand and Singapore come to my small farm in Bentong, Pahang Malaysia to visit my farm.
​
During durian season, each week I have about 50-100 people visiting my farm. While this may not be a huge number it does help to bring in a nice income to my farm.
​
How did I get people from all over the world to come to my farm? How do I get a steady stream of people coming to spend money in my farm?
​
That is what I intend to teach you in this website.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
By giving your visitors a good experience in your farm, you will get good reviews and bring in lots of others tourists into your farm
Learn To Bring And Attract Visitors To Your Farm
In the modern world you will have a lot of competition. You may also find it difficult to make money just from selling your farm produce.
​
Here I will share with you how I turn a small farm into a farm that is rated very highly and how I bring visitors from all over the world.
​
Just because you have a small farm or lack resources it does not mean your farm can't benefit from agritourism.
​
In fact, agritourism can propel your income. Your sales from agritourism can be 3-5 times what you earn from just selling your produce.
​
In order to be able to do that, you need to use the power of the web to attract visitors to your farm. I will teach you how you can use Google Business and the internet to help bring visitors to your farm.
​
When you have lots of targeted visitors, your income from agritourism will grow!
​
The Problems And Challenges That Agritourism Operators Face
I'm sure you probably have heard about the lucrative potential that agritourism can bring to a farm. It is not surprising for a farm to add $10,000 to $50,000 in sales every month by bringing visitors to their farm.​
​
But where do you start? And soon you will realize there are many question and challenges. Below are 3 main problems that aspiring agritourism business will face.
​
​
Problem 1 : They Do Not Know Their Niche Or What That Can Attract Visitors
Just because the farm down the road offer strawberry picking that does not mean you should do the same thing. What you need is a blue ocean strategy to attract visitors. In other words you need a special niche to be able to standout from the crowd.
​
This is where I will teach you how to find your blue ocean and your special niche. Once you have identified the niche, you are halfway to achieving a successful agritourism business.
Problem 2 : They Do Not Have The Cost To Build Infrastructure And Facilities For Tourists
So you lack money to start a successful agritourism business? So did I when I started.
​
Lack of money should never be a problem for the creative agritourism operator. You start with what you have and build from there.
​
Don't worry I will guide you and teach you how to overcome this problem and turn it into a blessing to you.
Problem 3 : They Do Not Know How To Market Their Farm
Offering a product or attraction is one thing. Knowing how to market your farm and bring in customers is another thing. If you do not know what you are doing then there will be a lack of customers to your farm.
​
Here I will teach you how to use the minimum cost to market your products your attractions and your farm. We will do it the traditional way as well as incorporate modern tools into your markeing arsenal. ​
​
What unique special niche do you have? I did it through a special fruit called durian. If I can create a successful agritourism business so can you
Learn The 13 Steps On How To Start And Grow A Thriving Agrotourism Business
In order to start and grow a thriving agritourism business in your farm, you need to follow these 13 steps.
​
Step 1. Assess Your Farm’s Assets and Opportunities (Your Special Niche)
Identify what unique assets your farm offers, such as crops, animals, landscapes, or historical value, and brainstorm potential visitor experiences.
Step 2. Define Your Target Audience
Determine who you want to attract—families, couples, schools, eco-tourists—and tailor your offerings to their interests (e.g., family-friendly farm tours, eco-conscious workshops).
Step 3. Develop Core Activities and Experiences
Start by offering a few key experiences like farm tours, U-pick fruit or vegetables, petting zoos, or workshops to build initial interest.
Step 4. Create a Business Plan
Write a detailed business plan outlining goals, target market, revenue streams, budget, and marketing strategy for the agritourism side of your farm.
Step 5. Plan Your Farm’s Infrastructure
Ensure your farm has visitor-friendly infrastructure like parking, bathrooms, picnic areas, and safety signage. Consider accessibility for families and individuals with disabilities.
​
Step 6. Research Local Regulations and Permits
Understand zoning laws, business permits, and liability insurance requirements for operating an agritourism business in your region.
​
Step 7. Invest in Marketing And Attracting Visitors
Build an online presence with a website, social media profiles, and listings on agritourism directories. Use platforms like Instagram and Facebook to share farm events, products, and experiences.
Step 8. Leverage Partnerships
Partner with local tourism boards, hotels, or other farms to offer packages or co-promote your business. Work with schools and community organizations to attract group visits.
Step 9. Monetizing Agritourism And Having Additional Revenue Streams
Discover where you can monetize your agritourism business. Then develop secondary income sources by selling farm products (honey, jams, produce), offering farm-to-table dining, running workshops, or opening a farm store.
​
Step 10. Focus on Customer Experience
Train your staff in hospitality, and create memorable, educational experiences for visitors. Offer guided tours and interactive activities to keep guests engaged.
​
Step 11. Financial Planning And Budgeting
​
In order to run a successful and lasting agritourism business in your farm, you need to be really good at financial planning and budgeting. Otherwise you may start well but find yourself throwing a lot of good money away.
​
Step 12. Track Feedback and Refine Offerings
Gather feedback from visitors through surveys or online reviews. Use this data to refine experiences, improve services, and expand your offerings to meet customer demand.
​
Step 13. Scaling Up and Growing Your Agritourism Empire
​
As you agritourism business grows through our teachings and courses you might want to consider how to scale and grow your empire even further.
​
There are many dimensions to running an agritourism business. If you follow the above 13 steps you are already on your way to a thriving agritourism business.
​
On this site you will find the necessary resources, articles and even a course to help you achieve the results that you want by building a successful long lasting agritourism business.
​
Start Bringing International Visitors To You Farm
Visitors from China visiting my durian farm and bring extra income to my small farm. You can do the same too!
Agritourism or Agrotourism is an often overlooked niche for small farmers. You can often get 3-4 times more sales from agritourism than your normal produce if you know how to do things right.
My Story Of How I Turn A Small Farm Into A Popular Agritourism Destination
Hi my name is Stephen Loke and I run a durian agritourism business in my durian farm in Bentong Pahang, Malaysia.
​
For those who have never heard about durians before, it is a spiky fruit that is grown mostly in South East Asia. The durian is known as the king of fruits due to its special aroma.
​
You either love it or hate it!
​
That is why it is usually not allowed in hotels, public transport and airplanes.
Musang King durians. You either love it or hate it! If you have a struggling small farm and want to turn things around, you should consider agritourism. If I can do it with a strange fruit like durian, you can do it too!
Back in the days of Covid, there was a lot of lockdown all over the world.
​
Without being able to go anywhere, I turned to the small durian farm left by my father. There were about 200 durian trees in the farm along with mangosteen trees, rambutan trees, duku langsat trees, dokong trees and pulasan trees.
​
As I learn to manage the farm, I also poured a lot of money into the farm.
​
At first I thought that this would be a way out for me to earn a living. As time went by, I discovered that running a farm was not easy. The cost of farming is very high too!
​
We use imported fertilizers from the EU and due to the exchange rate things are not cheap. The cost of labour, pesticide and irrigation also contributed to the difficulty in running a farm.
​
If you run a small farm, you would understand my frustrations. You lack the money that bigger farms or company have. You also lack the amount of manpower to do so.
The cost of running a farm such as labor, fertilizer and pesticide was making my small farm lose money.
For 2 years I learned about the durian farm business. We had bumper harvest but somehow the rising cost of fertilizer, labor and pesticides and the cost of running the farm was eating into the profits.
​
I was left with losses and a red account.
​
I also overspent money on the farm by trying out many things such as irrigation, building a nice farmhouse and also planting other things like chillis, cucumber and bitter gourd.
​
The thing about durians is this...
​
It is a seasonal fruit and when there is no season I do not have an income.
​
So I tried to dabble in chillis, cucumber and bitter gourd.
​
I even planted thousands of banana trees because I heard that you can harvest every week.
I tried to diversify to other crops like banana, chillis, cucumber and bitter gourd. But my lack of knowledge and skills caused me to lose money. Things did not go well until I leaned into agritourism.
I Brought Tourists In And It Help To Give Me An Additional Income
I was so frustrated with the amount of money I had to fork out and also the amount of money I was losing in trying to run and farm and try different crops.
​
It is nice to see things growing in your farm but when the profits cannot cover the running of the farm, it can be devastating and frustrating.
​
Finally I tried to bring tourists and visitors into my durian farm.
​
There were of course a few obstacles that I face and you might be familiar to them if you are a small farm:
-
How do I attract and market to tourist
-
I do not have a lot of capital to build tourist facilities and attractions to my farm
-
I was fast running out of cash
-
The roads into my durian farm were estate roads and muddy.
-
Tourists can only enter my farm using a four wheel drive
-
There were no beautiful landscape, ponds and attractions in my farm
-
How on earth do I get people to come to my farm?
​
It was not easy to overcome these obstacles.
​
I wish there was someone to handhold me and share their experiences with me. Now I realize the importance of journeying and walking with someone who has done it.
​
If you are facing the same problems, then you have come to the right place as you can really benefit from my experience.
​
Today I have overcome these problems and have a steady stream of visitors from all over the world to my farm. The revenue is good that I can relax a bit and not worry if the produce in the farm is a lot or not.
​
The revenue from bringing tourists to your farm may not be high at the start but once you get started, you will see that the revenue does help to cover many costs.
​
​
What Is Agritourism Or Agrotourism?
Till this day there is no standard definition of agritourism. In some countries they call it agrotourism.
​
The University of California defines agritourism as:
"A commercial enterprise at a working farm or ranch conducted for the enjoyment and education of visitors, and that generates supplemental income for the owner or operator".
​
The University of Vermont Extension on their website states that:
​
"Agritourism is the business of establishing farms as destinations for education, recreation, and the purchase of farm products; giving visitors the opportunity to connect with the working landscape and 'farm experience', and creating an additional source of revenue for the host farm."
​
The United States Department Of Agriculture, National Agriculture Library defines agritourism as:
​
Agritourism is a form of commercial enterprise that links agricultural production and/or processing with tourism to attract visitors onto a farm, ranch, or other agricultural business for the purposes of entertaining or educating the visitors while generating income for the farm, ranch, or business owner.[National Agricultural Law Center.]
​
Wikipedia defines Agritourism as:
​
Agritourism or agrotourism involves any agriculturally based operation or activity that brings visitors to a farm or ranch. It encompasses a wide range of activities, including direct-to-consumer sales such as farm stands and u-pick, agricultural education through school visits, hospitality services like overnight farm stays, recreational activities such as hunting and horseback riding, and entertainment events like hayrides and harvest dinners. These activities provide an additional source of income for farmers and help sustain small-scale farms.
​
I think the definition above from various sources will give you an idea of what agritourism or agrotourism is. But here are the important things you can get from these definitions:
​
-
For the enjoyment and recreation of visitors. People do enjoy and have fun when visiting your farm
-
For education of visitors. People actually benefit by learning something new in your farm
-
Generate income and additional revenue for the farm owner
​
Think of it this way.... This is a WIN WIN situation.
​
You provide entertainment and education to your visitors while at the same time you get extra income that supplement your current income.
​
There is something special about small farms as well. From my experience, you can actually touch people's lives and make new friends as people come to your small farm. Some may be lifelong friends. You also help families and visitors to build lifetime memories.
​
Some things are worth way much more than making money.
What Agritourism Can Do For Your Farm And Community
From my own experience I can tell you that agritourism can really transform your life and your farm.
​
Can you imagine bringing in extra income from farm tours and having visitors from all over the world step into your world of farming?
​
-
Transform your farm's income from one source to multiple sources of income
-
You worry less about the production and fluctuations of your produce and prices
-
You are less affected by weather
-
Your farm is an activity of life as visitors from all over the world come to your place
-
You and your farm become famous worldwide
-
People start to look to you as an authority in your area of farming (interviews and youtube videos might come)
-
The local and regional or even national government agencies and department start seeing you as an important person in agriculture
-
You help to provide jobs for the locals
-
You help to bring in visitors from all over the world and the multiplier effect helps to generate additional income for the local economy
-
You help families and visitors build unforgettable memories that may last a life time (ex...dad do you remember when we were young you used to take us to Uncle Joe's farm for strawberry picking and horse riding?)
Start Now And Build A Successful Agritourism Business That Will Transform Your Life
Thanks for reading till the end.
​
If you want to learn how to build a successful agritourism business and change your life, don't hesitate to consult me. I am starting a new course about "How To Bring Visitors From All Over The World To Your Farm" and I'm looking for potential like minded people to help me bring the course to life.
​
In return for your time, I will give you a nice discount on the consultation and education.
Blog
50 US dollars
About Agritourism Success
Having started his own successful agritourism business, Stephen Loke now helps other farmers to grow a tourism business in their farm.
​
At Agritourism Success, Stephen is dedicated to offering specialized courses that focus on building thriving agritourism enterprises.
The education here is designed to equip farmers with the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in the competitive agritourism industry.