2023 Regional Agritourism Accelerator

Coming soon to a region near you!
The new "Regional Agritourism Accelerator"

What is the Regional Agritourism Accelerator?

The Regional Agritourism Accelerator is a 6-month programme to help farmers and others interested in agritourism to identify opportunities on their farm, develop and grow their agritourism business to diversify farm income, attract visitors to their region and build rural communities.

Check out the videos above for more info about what agritourism is and all about, the benefits for farmers, visitors and communities and about the new Regional Agritourism Accelerator Programme.

How does it work?

We start with a 1-day ‘in-person’ interactive ‘Strategic Planning Workshop’ in a small group with 10 to 30 course participants from your region.
This group will be encouraged to form an ‘agritourism cluster’ of operators to continue working together and supporting each other. Tools on how to run a successful cluster will be provided on the day.
Following the full day course, there will be five monthly in-depth live webinars that cover a range of topics relating to running and growing an agritourism business. These webinars will be followed by a Q&A session. In the event participants can’t attend the webinar, they can be view the recording.
The five monthly webinars will be held for all participating regions at the same time to encourage cross-regional collaboration, networking and learning.
Workbooks will be provided to participants and a certificate will be given upon successful completion of the programme.

Dates & locations

The 2023 Regional Agritourism Accelerator Programme locations are:

Monday 1st of May: Taranaki (Note: the cost per participant for this region is $200+gst pp as the region subsidises an additional part)
Wednesday 3rd of May: Whanganui (Note: this region is fully subsidising the course for participants)
Friday 5th of May: Pukekohe
Monday 8th of May: Palmerston North
Week of 15th May: West Coast - location tbc
Wednesday 7th of June: Invercargill

More locations will be added soon!
If you'd like to be kept up to date on additional North Island and South Island locations, email marijke@agritourism.nz or fill in the form at the bottom of this page.

Partners:

Who is it for?

Farmers who are interested in setting up a tourism venture on their farm (agriculture, horticulture, vineyards etc.)
People who may already have (for example) a cottage on their farm and want to grow their business and income.
Operators who could partner with agritourism operators in developing a tourism product/package on someone else’s farm.

What will you get out of it?

Participants will come away with a greater understanding of opportunities in agritourism, what’s involved in running a successful agritourism business, what could work on their farm, and a broad plan of how to achieve it.
It’ll also be a great opportunity for operators to network, form a regional cluster and be part of a growing agritourism community through the Agritourism NZ Private Facebook page.

Topics include

Agritourism benefits for farmers, communities and visitors
Agritourism trends (NZ and international)
Case studies / success stories
Steps in planning, developing and growing an agritourism business
Agritourism product development – assessing your farm for agritourism, identifying & maximising opportunities on your farm
How does the NZ tourism industry work?
Pricing, distribution and marketing (incl. digital marketing, social media etc)
Health & Safety, compliance etc.
Qualmark
NZ Tourism Sustainability Commitment
How to grow your agritourism venture
Keys to agritourism business success
Next steps; where to get support, getting started (or growing)
How to set up an agritourism cluster in your region
And more!

Facilitator

Marijke Dunselman is the founder of Agritourism NZ and one of NZ's leading tourism marketing consultants & trainers with over 25 years' experience in (agri)tourism. She has worked with hundreds of tourism businesses around New Zealand setting up and growing their businesses.

Cost

This programme is part-funded by regional Economic Development Agencies or Regional Tourism Organisations.
Check locations above to see if it's held in your region.
Cost for participants:

$350 + gst per person

NOTE: Additional funding is provided by these regions:

Whanganui + Partners is fully subsidising the cost for participants.

Venture Taranaki subsidises part of the cost per participant for this region. The cost per person is $200+gst pp (instead of $350)

Includes:

Development and presentation of the programme; the 1-day in-person workshop and 5 monthly live webinars and Q&A's
Each participant will receive a 1-year complimentary listing on the www.agritourism.nz website on your regional page (worth $400 + gst)
Pre course questionnaire for participants
Workbook specifically developed for the programme
Network through the Agritourism Private Facebook page