{"id":84,"date":"2015-03-02T05:07:07","date_gmt":"2015-03-02T05:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/nmaximov\/?p=84"},"modified":"2015-03-02T05:13:12","modified_gmt":"2015-03-02T05:13:12","slug":"the-rise-of-agritourism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/nmaximov\/blog\/2015\/03\/02\/the-rise-of-agritourism\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rise of Agritourism"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I think of Heritage Tourism, I automatically think of historic sites where great battles were fought or majestic natural landscapes that reflect a sense of our own cultural heritage.\u00a0 In recent years, however, there has been an increasing interest in a type of tourism that takes people away from the hustle and bustle of “touristy” attractions (e.g. Yosemite National Park) and the increasing stress of urbanization: agritourism.\u00a0 Agritourism consists of wineries, farms, orchards, fairs – pretty much anything that relates to agriculture – and is meant to educate tourists about an area’s cultural heritage.<\/p>\n

\"Blackberry<\/a><\/p>\n

Part of the attraction of agritourism is the nostalgia it creates for a simpler time, what John Sears in Sacred Places<\/em> calls “rural peace and posterity” (49).\u00a0 Heritage tourism sites use this type of nostalgia to promote agritourism.\u00a0 The Shasta Cascades Wonderland Association, for example, advertises that tourists will be able to experience the “hardworking lifestyles of Northern California\u2019s farmers” (http:\/\/www.shastacascade.com\/thingstodo\/agritourism), while an article on California tourism stresses the importance of ‘experiencing nature’ (Backyardnature.com)<\/em>. Another selling point of agritourism is its authenticity.\u00a0 Tourists are being sold not only on beautiful sceneries and visual aesthetics but also experiences that are meant to open up a new world for tourists who are tired of the hustle and bustle of city life.<\/p>\n

Agritourism can benefit the economy of the local community as well. Agritourism and the resulting need for roads and infrastructure can means added jobs and income and could be used as “a means of diversifying a farm\u2019s potential income” (McAlister, 2014, A1).\u00a0 Another benefit to the local community is concerned with education.\u00a0 According to Shermaine Hardesty, \u201cSeveral farms offer tours for elementary kids who can learn where their food is coming from and how it\u2019s produced \u2026 and expose students to new career opportunities”(McAlister, 2014, A1).<\/p>\n

\"Child<\/a><\/p>\n

I would imagine that there are some that don’t approve of agritourism.\u00a0 Perhaps some will argue that tourists that are running to the countryside are ruining the pristine beauty that they so desperately want.\u00a0 In the wine country, for example, entire towns are becoming structurally transformed based on the needs of wineries.\u00a0 However, if history is any indication, agritourism is here to stay.\u00a0 Whether it’s an interest in natural landmarks, like rivers or vineyards, or the aesthetic views of local sceneries, such as those of the Connecticut and the Hudson described by John F. Sears (1989), as long as people want to experience nostalgia for the past, tourists will come.\u00a0 If this is the case, then I would argue that local communities should capitalize on this trend, both for its economic boon as well as a means to preserve local, cultural heritage.<\/p>\n

All pictures courtesy of The Daily Enterprise<\/em> website.<\/p>\n

“Agritourism”. Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association.<\/em> Accessed March 23, 2015, http:\/\/www.shastacascade.com\/thingstodo\/agritourism.<\/p>\n

California Green Solutions. “California Agritourism”. Backyardnature.com.<\/em> Accessed March 23, 2015, http:\/\/www.backyardnature.com\/cgi-bin\/gt\/tpl.h,content=464<\/p>\n

McAlister, Jason. “Assembly Members Hear About Agritourism”. The Davis Enterprise, <\/em>(2014): A1. http:\/\/www.davisenterprise.com\/local-news\/assembly-members-hear-about-agritourism-opportunities-and-challenges.<\/p>\n

Sears, John F. Sacred places: American tourist attractions and the nineteenth century<\/em>. Oxford University Press, 1989.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I think of Heritage Tourism, I automatically think of historic sites where great battles were fought or majestic natural landscapes that reflect a sense of our own cultural heritage.\u00a0 In recent years, however, there has been an increasing interest in a type of tourism that takes people away from the hustle and bustle of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1060,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogposts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/nmaximov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/nmaximov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/nmaximov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/nmaximov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1060"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/nmaximov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/nmaximov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/nmaximov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84\/revisions\/89"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/nmaximov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/nmaximov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/nmaximov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}