4.7 Million Guests Paid to Stay on Italian Farms in a Single Year. What Italy Knows About the Farm Stay Business That We Don't
In 2007, Reuters reporter Svetlana Kovalyova wrote about Martin and Waltraud Busin. They ran a small farm in Trodena, a hamlet in Italy's mountainous Alto Adige, and Martin did not dress it up.
"Our farm is too small to live off agriculture alone," he said.
So about 20 years earlier, the Busins had done something simple. They set aside two apartments in their own family house and rented them to holidaymakers. By 2007 they also had a small spa with a sauna and a hay bath, and guests could watch their prize cow, Miss, being milked to music. By then, agritourism made up 40% of the family's total budget.
No resort. No investors. Two apartments in the house they already lived in.
That is the whole secret of Italy's farm stay business, and it is the answer to the question in the headline. Italy did not build a farm stay industry out of rich estates. It built it out of ordinary family farms that rent a few rooms in buildings they already own, feed guests from their own fields, and keep farming as the main job. In 2024, 26,360 Italian farms were licensed for agritourism, and 4.7 million guests stayed with them. The average farm with rooms had about 14 beds.
The Short Answer: Italy's farm stay business is huge because each farm in it is small. The average Italian farm with rooms has about 14 beds, uses buildings it already owns, serves food it grows, and keeps farming as its main work. Italian law pushes farms to stay that way. You can copy the model on a farm in the US, Canada or the UK by starting with one pitch, one room or one cabin, then adding meals and experiences, and only building more rooms once paying guests prove the demand. |
Why a Farm Stay Feels Out of Reach (and Why Italy Says Otherwise)
If you have ever thought about letting guests sleep on your farm, you have probably talked yourself out of it in about four minutes.
It goes something like this. "I'd need to build cabins. I can't afford cabins." Then: "The county will never allow it." Then: "I'm a farmer, not a hotel manager." And finally: "Who would even come out here?"
I understand every one of those thoughts. Here is what Italy's numbers say back to each one:
"I'd need to build." Italy's national agritourism law starts from the buildings already on the farm. Tuscany, the biggest farm stay region, does not allow new buildings for agritourism, apart from a few small exceptions.
"The rules will kill it." Italy has more rules than most places, not fewer. The rules mostly keep farm stays small and tied to real farming. Small is exactly where you start.
"I'm not a hotelier." Italy's farm stay operators are farmers. Their average age is just over 56, and a third of the farms are run by women.
"Nobody would come." In 2024, 54.8% of Italy's farm stay guests came from abroad, and they stayed longer than the locals.
Let me walk you through the numbers, the rules and five real family farms. Then I will show you how to copy the model on your own land, one small step at a time.
Italy's Farm Stay Business by the Numbers
Italy's national statistics office, ISTAT, counts every licensed agriturismo each year. Its latest report, published on 9 March 2026, covers 2024. I checked for a newer edition with 2025 figures before writing this. There isn't one yet.
Here are the numbers that matter to a farmer thinking about guests:
What ISTAT measured (2024) | Figure |
|---|---|
Farms licensed for agritourism | 26,360 (up 0.9% in a year) |
Farms offering overnight stays | 21,449 (81.4%) |
Beds on those farms | More than 310,000 |
Camping pitches on farms | More than 15,500 |
Guests in the year | 4.7 million (up 4.3%) |
Guest nights | More than 17.1 million |
Average stay | 3.6 nights |
Guests from abroad | 54.8% |
Farms run by women | 33.6% (8,870 farms) |
Educational farms | 2,340 (up 12.2%) |
Value of the sector | Just over €1.934 billion |
Sources: ISTAT, "Le aziende agrituristiche in Italia, anno 2024" (9 March 2026); bed and pitch counts from ISPRA's environmental indicators.
Two things jump out at me.
First, this is steady money, not a fad. ISTAT says the number of farms has grown in every single year from 2003 to 2024. ISPRA, Italy's environmental agency, puts the 2003 count at about 13,000. That means Italy's farm stays have doubled in 21 years. The value of the sector has grown by an average of 5.3% a year over the last decade.
Second, all those guests are spread across a lot of small farms. That is the part nobody tells you.
The Average Italian Farm Stay Is Smaller Than You Think
Here is a sum anyone can check with a phone calculator.
More than 310,000 beds, divided by 21,449 farms with rooms, comes to about 14 beds per farm. That is roughly six or seven double rooms. Many farms have fewer.
ISTAT gives another number that tells the same story. It counts about 220 guests a year for each farm with rooms. At 3.6 nights a stay, that is about 800 guest nights a year for the average farm.
Now look at it from the bed's point of view. Italy's 310,000 beds could, in theory, be slept in 113 million times a year. The actual number was 17.1 million guest nights. So the average bed was filled about 15% of the nights in the year.
Reality Check: A 15% average fill rate tells you the average Italian farm stay is a seasonal second income, not a hotel. Many farms close for part of the year, and many are busiest in summer and harvest time. That is good news if you are a working farmer. You do not need to be full every night for a few rooms to matter. But do not build a business plan that assumes your rooms will be full all year. Plan for busy seasons and quiet ones, and make the quiet ones cheap to carry. |
The money side follows the same pattern. Divide the sector's €1.934 billion by 26,360 farms and you get about €73,000 of agritourism business per farm, on average. That is a gross figure, before costs, and it covers meals, tastings and activities as well as beds. It is not a fortune. It is a second income that keeps a family farm alive.
That is exactly what the Busins said in 2007.
The Rules That Keep Italian Farm Stays Small (and Why They Work in Your Favour)
Italy's farm stays are governed by a national law, Law 96 of 20 February 2006. It replaced the earlier national agritourism law of 1985. Each region then adds its own detailed rules.
I am not suggesting you move to Italy and file paperwork in Italian. I am showing you these rules because they describe a business model. Read them as a blueprint.
Rule No. 1: Only farmers can do it, with their families
The law defines agritourism as hospitality run by farmers, connected to farming, forestry or livestock. The people who can work in it are the farmer, the farmer's family members and the farm's employees. Outside contractors are allowed only for extra services.
In other words, Italy's farm stay business was designed for families, not hotel chains.
Rule No. 2: Use the buildings you already have
Article 3 of the law says farms can use buildings, or parts of buildings, "already existing" on the farm. It also says rooms used for agritourism count as rural dwellings.
Tuscany goes further. Its regional law lets farmers use rooms in their own home and old farm buildings no longer needed for farming. Then it says plainly that no new buildings can be put up for agritourism, apart from things like washrooms, technical rooms and sports or recreation facilities.
Think about what that means. Tuscany is arguably the world's best-known farm stay region, and it has 22.2% of all Italian agriturismi. Its entire farm stay economy runs on old barns, spare rooms and stone outbuildings.
Rule No. 3: Farming must stay the main job
The national law tells regions to make sure farming remains the "prevalent" activity. Tuscany lets each farmer prove it one of two ways. Either the farm spends less time on agritourism than on farming over the year, or the farm's agricultural output is worth more than its agritourism takings.
Emilia-Romagna measures it in work time. Farming must take more working days than the agritourism side does.
Rule No. 4: Feed guests from your own land
Meals must be made mainly from the farm's own products and from other farms in the area. Emilia-Romagna puts a number on it: the farm's own products must make up at least 35% of the value of the food used each year, or 25% for farms in mountain areas.
Rule No. 5: Stay small on purpose
Emilia-Romagna's agritourism law caps a farm at 12 furnished rooms, averaging no more than three beds a room, plus up to eight camping pitches. Farms in national parks, protected areas and mountain areas can go to 18 rooms and 15 pitches. Meals are capped at an average of 50 a day, measured over each month, plus two more for each room or pitch.
The same region even has a smaller category called family rural hospitality. It allows up to nine guests a day, in the home the farmer lives in, and only in mountain, disadvantaged and protected areas.
So Italy has a legal version of "a couple of rooms in the farmhouse". That is how small a real, licensed farm stay can be.
Field-Tested Play: Write your own "house rules" before you take a single guest, the way Italy writes them into law. For example: "Farming stays our main job. We host in buildings we already own. At least a third of what guests eat comes from our farm or our neighbours. We never take more guests than our family can look after well." Put it on your website. Guests trust a farm that tells them what it will never become. |
In my article on Italy's 2026 agritourism season, I called this kind of statement a "farm promise". It works because it is true and it is specific.
The Tax Rule That Lets Italian Farmers Keep More of Every Room
There is one more rule that explains why so many Italian families bother. It is in the tax code.
Under Article 5 of Italy's Law 413 of 1991, income from agritourism is normally taxed on a flat basis. Only 25% of the revenue (after VAT) counts as taxable income. On VAT, the farm pays 50% of the VAT it charges guests, as a flat allowance for the VAT it paid on its own costs. Farmers can choose the ordinary rules instead. The flat system only applies if the farm holds the proper agritourism licences.
That is a powerful nudge. Italy made it simple for a licensed farm family to add a few rooms and keep a good share of the money.
Reality Check: You almost certainly do not get Italy's tax deal. In the UK, the special furnished holiday lettings tax regime was abolished from April 2025, so short holiday lets are now taxed much like ordinary rentals. In the US and Canada, how lodging income is taxed depends on how you set it up and how much service you provide. This is not tax advice. Take these questions to your accountant before you open: Is this rental income or business income? What costs can I deduct, and over how many years? Will it change my farm's tax status or any property tax break on farmland? Do I need to charge sales tax or a lodging tax? My guide to agritourism and taxes has a fuller list. |
Lodging taxes catch a lot of new hosts by surprise. Japan's dairy country in Nasu shows how fast a local bed tax can land on a farm, which I covered in Nasu's new lodging tax.
Who Runs Italy's Farm Stays? Farmers, Not Hoteliers
The people behind Italy's 26,360 agriturismi look a lot like the people reading this article.
ISTAT says the average operator is just over 56 years old. On farms with an educational farm, the average drops to 54. One in three Italian agriturismi, 8,870 farms, is run by a woman.
They are not on easy, flat land either. Just under 53% of Italian farm stays are in hill country, 31% are in the mountains and only 16% are on the plains. Hilly and mountain land is the normal setting, not a handicap.
And they do not all sell the same thing. Here is what ISTAT says Italian farms offered in 2024:
One fast-growing extra is the educational farm, up 12.2% in a single year to 2,340 farms. Since 2010, the number of agriturismi with educational farms has risen 220%. Italian farms are being paid to teach children where food comes from. If that idea interests you, my guide to farm field trips shows how it works in the US, Canada and the UK.
If you are worried that you are too old to start, read why a 60-year-old farmer is a selling point. Italy's average operator is proof.
Five Small Italian Farm Stays and What They Charge
Statistics are useful. Real farms are better. Here are five small Italian farm stays, with the sizes and prices reported by reliable sources.
The first four come from a Guardian travel feature by Liz Boulter, published in May 2024. Prices are 2024 starting prices and may have changed since. Check each farm's own booking page for today's rates.
Farm and region | What it farms | Guest space | Starting price (2024) |
|---|---|---|---|
Gli Agrumeti sul Mare, Sicily | Lemons, clementines, oranges | 4 apartments | Doubles from €60, room only |
Barrani, Liguria (Cinque Terre) | Vines and olives on 5 hectares | 6 en-suite rooms | From €75 per person, half-board |
Fiori del Conero, Le Marche | Citrus, olives, samphire | 9 rooms and flats | Doubles from €73, room only |
Torre Cangiani, Campania | Organic olives, lemons, tomatoes, honey | 4 rooms and a 2-bedroom flat | Doubles from €110, B&B |
Podere La Villetta, Tuscany | Traditional farming | 6 rooms | Not reported |
Sources: The Guardian (Liz Boulter, 12 May 2024); EU Transition Pathways for Tourism (2 September 2024) for Podere La Villetta.
Look at the guest space column. Four apartments. Six rooms. Nine. These are not resorts. Here is what each one teaches.
Gli Agrumeti sul Mare: let guests pick the crop
This is an old farmhouse between Mount Etna and the sea in Sicily. Guests can pick lemons, clementines and oranges straight from the trees around the farmhouse. Owner Giovanni Russo also offers tours of the Galeano Mazzullo distillery, which his great-grandfather founded.
The lesson: your crop is part of the room. A guest who picks their own breakfast fruit remembers your farm. My Harvest Your Dinner farm stay package article shows a Japanese farm doing the same thing with scissors and a vegetable bed.
Barrani: sell dinner with the bed
Barrani is a family farm in the quiet Cinque Terre village of Corniglia, with five hectares of vines and olives and six en-suite rooms. The Guardian's price was per person, half-board, because dinner is part of the deal. Think triangular ravioli with walnut sauce, then stuffed mussels.
The lesson: a meal turns a room into a stay. Half-board pricing also lifts the money from each guest without adding a single bed.
Fiori del Conero: the host is the product
On the edge of the Conero regional park near Ancona, host Silvano runs nine rooms and flats. He recommends places to visit, books restaurants for guests and shows them around the farm's citrus and olive groves and its fields of samphire.
The lesson: a farmer who knows the area is worth more than a fancy bathroom. Your local knowledge is free to you and valuable to a stranger.
Torre Cangiani: put your harvest on the plate
West of Sorrento, Torre Cangiani is an organic farm built around a 17th-century tower, surrounded by olive and lemon groves. It has four rooms and a two-bedroom flat. Meals use the farm's own olive oil, tomatoes, honey, preserved vegetables and jam.
The lesson: the old building is the attraction. So is the jar of jam on the breakfast table. Both were already on the farm.
Podere La Villetta: name the rooms after your family
Podere La Villetta is a family-run farmhouse in Tuscany's Val di Chiana, set up in 2005 and run by young farmer Cristina Salvadori. It has six independent rooms, each named after a woman in the Salvadori family. An EU tourism platform featured it as a best-practice example in 2024.
The lesson: your family story is a marketing asset that costs nothing. A room called "Nonna Rosa's Room" sells better than "Room 3".
For a very different scale, my Fattoria di Maiano case study shows what one large Tuscan estate built over decades. Most Italian farm stays look much more like the five above.
Who Pays to Stay: Why Foreign Guests Matter
Back in 2007, the same Reuters report said about a quarter of the 3 million guests expected on Italian farms that year would be foreigners. By 2024, ISTAT counted 54.8%. That is two different sources measuring in two different ways, so treat the comparison as a rough picture. But the direction is clear.
Foreign guests also stay longer. ISTAT says the average stay was 4.2 nights for foreign guests and 3 nights for Italians. Put those numbers together and foreign guests account for roughly 63% of all farm stay nights in Italy, by my own estimate.
What does that mean for a farm in Ohio, Ontario or Shropshire? You do not need foreign tourists to make this work. But it shows that people will travel a long way, and stay for several nights, for a real working farm.
Guests who stay longer also want something to do. That is why Italian farms sell the region around them as well as the room. I wrote a whole piece on this "base camp" idea in Italy's farms just hosted 33 million agritourism guests. In short, list the towns, trails and makers near you, and sell your farm as the place to explore them from.
What the US, UK and Canada Numbers Say
So far this is an Italian story. Here is how it translates.
United States. The 2022 Census of Agriculture found 28,617 farms with income from agritourism and recreational services. Together they took in $1.26 billion, according to a Penn State data brief, which works out at an average of $44,004 per farm. USDA's Economic Research Service says that total rose 12.4% from 2017 after inflation. The census category includes things like hunting and fishing access, not just farm stays. I break the numbers down in agritourism statistics.
England. The latest Farm Accounts in England report, for 2024/25, says 72% of farm businesses now have some diversified activity, up 10 percentage points since 2015/16. The most common is letting out buildings, which half of all farms do, earning an average of £27,900. Farms that provide tourist accommodation and catering earned an average enterprise income of £8,700 from it. That is income after the costs of that activity.
Canada. Statistics Canada's 2021 Census of Agriculture found 13.6% of farms sold directly to consumers in 2020, up from 12.7% in 2015. That is a sign that more Canadian farm families already deal face to face with customers. A paying overnight guest is the next step from a farm stand.
Reality Check: That £8,700 figure is worth sitting with. It is an average enterprise income for English farms that offer tourist accommodation and catering, after that activity's own costs. Some earn far more, some far less. A farm stay is not a lottery ticket. It is a second income you build season by season. The US figure is gross takings and covers many kinds of visitor business, so it is not a profit number either. For a fuller picture of what farms really earn, read how much agritourism farms really make. |
The Small-Start Ladder: From One Pitch to a Real Farm Stay
Here is the part I most want you to take away. Italy's model works because each farm grows in small steps, inside buildings and land it already has. You can do the same.
I call it the small-start ladder. Each rung earns money and teaches you something before you spend money on the next one.
Rung No. 1: A few tent pitches
Italy's own law lists open spaces for campers as a form of farm hospitality, and Italian farms have more than 15,500 camping pitches. It is the lowest-cost way to find out if anyone will pay to sleep on your land.
In England, permitted development rights let landowners run a temporary campsite for up to 60 days a year without full planning permission. The rules came into force on 26 July 2023. They allow up to 50 pitches for tents, campervans and motorhomes, but not caravans. You must provide moveable toilets and waste disposal and give your local planning authority written notice with a site plan and dates. Listed building land, Sites of Special Scientific Interest and some other areas are excluded, and flood zones need extra steps.
In the US and Canada, campsite rules vary by state, province and county. Platforms like Hipcamp and Harvest Hosts help farms test demand. See how much Hipcamp hosts earn and whether Harvest Hosts is worth it, including the county letter that threatened one host with fines.
Rung No. 2: One room or one cabin
This is the Busins' step: one or two units in a building you already own. A spare bedroom with its own bathroom. A tidy apartment over the garage. A small cabin.
In Oregon, Scottie and Greg Jones raised lamb at Leaping Lamb Farm, 40 acres in the Coast Range near Alsea. In 2006 they got a county variance to use one cabin, first built for their daughter, as farm lodging. Friends and family tested it for the first year. By 2010, Oregon State University reported the cabin was booked about 60% of the year.
"I knew about the farm stay concept, which is popular in Europe," Scottie told Oregon State University's Small Farms Program. She went on to found Farm Stay USA.
One cabin, booked more than half the year. Italy's average bed was filled about 15% of nights, which is a slightly different measure, but the point stands: a single well-run unit can work hard.
If you are deciding between a simple unit and something grand, read how simple cabins can outperform luxury farm stays. For setting your nightly rate, see why most farm stays are undercharging. And if you are weighing a listing site against your own bookings, see farm stay vs Airbnb.
Rung No. 3: Breakfast or a farm meal
About half of Italy's agriturismi serve meals, and the law expects that food to come mainly from the farm and its neighbours. Barrani's half-board price shows why. Food raises the money from each guest without adding a bed.
Start small: a breakfast basket of your own eggs, bread and jam, or one farm dinner a week. Food rules are where many farms trip up, so read selling food on your farm: the permits each one needs. When you are ready for something bigger, my guide to hosting a farm to table dinner has real ticket prices.
Rung No. 4: A paid farm experience
About half of Italian agriturismi offer at least one activity: excursions, courses, horse riding, nature walks, educational farms. These give guests a reason to stay another night.
Your experience can be simple. A morning feeding animals. A harvest hour. A cheese or bread class. A guided walk at sunset. Choose one thing you already do every day and turn it into something guests pay to join.
Rung No. 5: More rooms, only when full dates prove it
Even then, look first at the buildings you already have. My article on what to do with an old barn shows what old farm buildings can become, and is your barn legal for visitors? covers the building code side. For the bigger picture, Congaree and Penn shows how one farm grew step by step from a few acres of rice to overnight stays.
Rung | What it is | What to sort out first | Signal to climb |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | A few tent pitches | Planning or zoning, toilets, water, waste, insurance | Repeat bookings and good reviews |
2 | One room or cabin | Short-term rental and lodging rules, fire safety, insurance | Most weekends booked in season |
3 | Breakfast or a farm meal | Food permits, kitchen standards, allergies | Guests asking "Can we eat here?" |
4 | A paid farm experience | Activity safety plan, insurance cover, waivers | Guests staying an extra night |
5 | More rooms | Building and planning approvals, finance | Turning paying guests away |
To see what each type of visitor business can cost to set up, read how much it costs to start an agritourism business. For a step-by-step setup guide, see how to start a farm stay on your farm.
Before You Take a Single Booking: Questions to Ask
Italy has a licence for everything. You need your own version of that checklist. This is not legal advice. Rules change by state, province, county and council. Take these questions to the right people before you take money.
Ask your planning or zoning office:
Is overnight lodging allowed on my farm's zoning, and in which buildings?
Do I need a short-term rental permit, a conditional use permit or a planning application?
Is there a limit on rooms, guests or nights per year?
Does a temporary campsite need permission here, and for how many days?
Ask your health and fire departments:
What fire safety rules apply to a guest room or cabin: smoke alarms, exits, extinguishers?
If I serve breakfast or dinner, which food permit do I need, and can I use my home kitchen?
Does my water supply need testing if guests drink it?
Ask your insurance agent:
Does my farm policy cover paying overnight guests, or do I need a separate policy?
Are farm activities like animal feeding or harvest hours covered for guests?
What happens to my cover if a guest is hurt in a building that is not approved for lodging?
My guide to agritourism insurance explains what to ask for, and how to protect your farm stay covers the legal and safety basics.
Ask your accountant:
How will lodging income be taxed, and can I deduct my setup costs?
Do I need to collect sales tax, VAT or a local lodging tax?
Could guest income affect any farmland tax break or farm status?
Reality Check: Many US states have agritourism liability laws, but some only protect certain farm activities. Do not assume a law written for hayrides or pick-your-own also covers someone sleeping in your cabin. Ask a local lawyer or your insurer what is and is not covered for overnight guests in your state. |
What My Durian Farm Taught Me About Starting With What You Have
I am the founder of Bloopy Durians, a durian farm in Bentong, Malaysia. Our durian seasons are short, about four to five months a year, from December to February and June to August.
We do not run guest rooms. I want to be clear about that. But I faced the same question every farmer reading this faces: what can I sell with what I already have?
For us, the answer is a farm tour. It runs about an hour and a half. Guests plant a durian tree, ride around the farm in a four-wheel drive, taste durians and learn how to tell a good durian from a poor one. They can pick fruit like mangosteen and rambutan straight from the trees.
The four-wheel drive was not part of a grand plan. Parts of our farm road are not smooth enough for normal cars, and a proper road was beyond my budget. So I turned the problem into the product. Guests now reach the farm on a paid four-wheel-drive adventure, and many love riding in the back. I tell that story in how a 4WD adventure ride brought revenue to my durian farm.
Tents can be pitched at the farm for customers, too. That is the closest we come to Rung No. 1, and it needed no new building.
Today the farm welcomes visitors from all over the world, and many companies send their staff and management to us. We also have a WhatsApp group of loyal customers who buy durians from us every season. The farm has been featured in Bloomberg News and Asahi Shimbun.
None of that needed a hotel. It needed me to look at what I already had and sell it well. That is exactly what the Busins did with two apartments in their house.
Field-Tested Play: Before you spend a cent on building, run one test weekend. Invite friends, family or a church group to stay in your spare room, or pitch tents in your best field, for a fair price. Give them breakfast from your farm and one simple farm experience. Then ask three questions: What did you love? What would you pay? Who do you know who would come? Leaping Lamb Farm used its first year to let friends and family test the cabin. Your test weekend is a small version of the same idea. |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an agriturismo?
An agriturismo is an Italian working farm licensed for agritourism: hosting paying guests for stays, meals, tastings or activities. Under Italy's Law 96 of 2006, it must be run by a farmer, with family members and farm staff, using buildings already on the farm. Any meals it serves must be made mainly from its own and local produce, and farming must stay its main activity. In 2024, Italy had 26,360 of them.
How many beds does an average Italian farm stay have?
About 14. Italy had more than 310,000 farm stay beds across 21,449 farms with rooms in 2024, which works out at roughly 14 beds per farm, or six to seven double rooms. Some regional rules cap the size. Emilia-Romagna, for example, allows up to 12 rooms in most areas.
Do you need a big farm to start a farm stay business?
No. Italy's farm stay business is built mostly on small family farms using rooms they already have. Leaping Lamb Farm in Oregon started with one cabin on 40 acres. What matters more is a clean, comfortable space, a genuine working farm and a host who looks after guests well.
Can Italian farms build new cabins for guests?
It depends on the region. The national law allows farms to use existing buildings. Tuscany, the biggest farm stay region, says no new buildings can be put up for agritourism, apart from things like washrooms, technical rooms and sports facilities. That is why so many Italian farm stays are in restored farmhouses and barns.
How much money does a farm stay make?
It varies widely. Italy's agritourism sector was worth about €1.934 billion in 2024, roughly €73,000 per farm before costs. In England, farms offering tourist accommodation and catering earned an average enterprise income of £8,700 from it in 2024/25. Treat a farm stay as a second income you grow over several seasons.
Is a farm stay the same as an Airbnb on a farm?
Not quite. An Airbnb on a farm can be any rental that happens to be in the countryside. A true farm stay, like an Italian agriturismo, is built around the working farm: guests eat what you grow, see the work and often join in. That farm experience is what lets you charge more and win repeat guests.
What is the cheapest way to test a farm stay?
Start with tent pitches or one existing room. In England, permitted development rules allow a temporary campsite for up to 60 days a year with notice to the council. In North America, platforms like Hipcamp and Harvest Hosts let you test demand, as long as your local rules allow it.
The Bottom Line
Italy did not get 4.7 million farm guests a year by asking farmers to become hoteliers. It asked them to stay farmers and open a few rooms. The average farm with rooms has about 14 beds. Most use buildings they already own. Many cook what they grow. And the sector has grown every year since 2003, one small farm at a time.
You can start the same way. One pitch. One room. One breakfast. One experience. Then let your guests tell you when it is time to grow.
If you want help choosing the right first step, my ebook 10 Profit Driving Farm Activities walks you through ten proven ways to earn from visitors: farm tours, eat-all-you-can experiences, fruit picking, farm-to-table meals, school visits, workshops, off-season income ideas, direct sales to visitors, repeat customer systems, and corporate and group bookings. It also shows you why most small farms stay stuck, how to get your first 10 paying customers, how Google Reviews bring visitors to your gate, and how to price your experiences so they pay.
These are the activities that pair best with a farm stay. They give guests a reason to book, stay longer and come back. All for $17.
Not sure your farm is ready for paying guests yet? Take my free Farm Readiness Quiz. It takes a few minutes, shows you where your farm is strong and where the gaps are, and points you to the next step that fits your land, your time and your budget.
And if you want more ideas before you decide, download my free ebook, 150 Ways to Unlock Hidden Wealth From Your Farm. It is packed with practical ways to earn more from the land, buildings and skills you already have, so you can find the ideas that suit your farm without spending a fortune first.
P.S. Remember Martin Busin's words: "Our farm is too small to live off agriculture alone." He did not take that as the end of the story. He and Waltraud opened two apartments in the house they already lived in, and agritourism grew to 40% of the family budget. If your farm feels too small, too remote or too ordinary, that is not a reason to give up. In Italy, it is the most common starting point there is.
Stephen Loke of AgritourismSuccess.com, whose farm is featured in Bloomberg News and Asahi Shimbun. This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Farm stay rules, permits, insurance and taxes differ by country, state, province and council, so check with qualified local professionals before you open to paying guests.
Sources
ISTAT, "Le aziende agrituristiche in Italia, anno 2024", press release and full report, 9 March 2026. istat.it
ISPRA, Environmental indicators: Tourism, "Farmhouses" (agritourism farms, beds and pitches, 2024). indicatoriambientali.isprambiente.it
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