Over the past two years, we have worked with Qualmark to develop agritourism tertiary criteria.
Agritourism NZ is the first organisation of its kind to become Qualmark accredited. 
A big THANK YOU to John Cushen, who has worked with me on the tertiary criteria and Diane Clayton from Tourism New Zealand.
Below is part of the cover letter of the evaluation report.   

​'Dear Marijke,

Well finally, we get to go through the Qualmark Quality Assurance process. Your agritourism business is a pioneer in this field and rather than you providing an experience for visitors, you provide a “one stop shop” for those that do. 
You have had a long history of supporting tourism  businesses and in particular, those that are rural based through your other business, Strategies Marketing / Smartourism.
Congratulations on achieving a very strong Silver Sustainable Tourism Business Award, this is a great result.
A Silver Award is evidence of a sophisticated tourism business that consistently exceeds visitor expectations. Proactive leadership and management ensure that a culture of high performance is evident throughout the entire business. The business will have a real focus on continuously improving their economic, social and environmental performance to ensure the tourism product they deliver is a genuine, constantly improving sustainable experience.
You are to be commended for providing a great supportive network.
 
It has been a real pleasure working with you Marijke.
​Agritourism in New Zealand has a lot to thank you for. You are a driver of initiatives and your high level of professionalism, will help ensure that those who choose to have experiences on farms, will be safe and have expectations exceeded.
Thanks so much for your support and well done on a great result.

Kind regards
John Cushen
Tourism Business Advisor'

Hamish McKay interviews Marijke about the opportunities of agritourism for farmers.
Duration: 8 minutes
To listen, go to:
www.magic.co.nz/home/shows/talk/rural-exchange.html 
Note: Go to the Podcast of the 13th of November. 
Starts at: 21:41 (21 minutes, 41 seconds)