Agritourism — Where Travel Meets Sustainable!

Apart from the tons of fun, awesome recreational activities, and rejuvenating nature reunion, agritourism also offers multiple benefits to the communities involved: It’s a great way of supporting your local businesses and farmers. Farming can be tricky at the best of times, and farmers often struggle to make a steady income; agritourism provides a new source of income to those offering the activity. It also allows them to have seasonal flexibility and supplement their income depending on the time of year. If they are quieter in the winter, a pick-your-own veggies experience may allow them to make up for any losses they would have had. It benefits the public. Agritourism allows the public to see what goes on behind the scenes at their local farm. Even more so now than ever, people like to know where their produce is coming from. Agritourism provides an opportunity for complete transparency between farmers and their customers. It’s educational. School and family trips allow children (and adults) to get out of their urban comfort zone and learn more about agriculture. Through agritourism, kids can learn where products come from, explore the history of a place, understand their roots, and even get hands-on experience from fruit picking to feeding lambs. It’s great for the community. Agritourism helps create better relationships between communities and their local farmers, increases community awareness and boosts the local economy. It has considerable benefits for the planet. Whether you go five minutes down the road or take a three-hour car journey, you are still being kinder to the planet by not jetting off 3000 miles. Small landowners and farmers are often very sustainable, so supporting agritourism by visiting more eco-friendly places is a good way of supporting sustainability as a whole! If you can travel whilst being responsible, what’s not to like? With the agritourism industry growing around the world, the UAE has also jumped in on the action. You can now get access to 23 UAE farms that have opened their doors to the public, so start planning your next staycation! To escape the hustle and bustle of the city, even just for a day, check out the Greenheart Farm, The Camel Farm, and Camelicious in Dubai. If you find yourself daydreaming about your next eco-friendly vacation, or you just want to get closer to nature, support your local farmers, and try something new — give agritourism a go! From waking up to the smell of the wet earth and watching farms go about their day-to-day life to hiking across beautiful mountains or picking your favorite fruits, agritourism has something for everyone to enjoy all year round. This form of sustainable adventure tourism is a perfect example of how we can live more sustainably without having to give up the things we love. We can still venture out into the world and explore, learn new things, broaden our horizons, experience things we may never have had the opportunity to try before — and we get to do all of that, knowing we are actually contributing positively to the economy and small businesses. Who knew travel and sustainability could work so well together!