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No, the family market is not the largest market

There continues to be a misconception in the agritourism industry that the family market is the largest market to target. Nothing could be further from the truth.

We examined the percentage of households with children between the ages of 5 and 14, generally the age of children who would be attracted to agritourism festivals. For young adult households ages 21-35, less than one-fifth have children 5-14 (18%). Even for households aged 21-45, less than one-third have children in that age range (29%). In the vast majority of households with an age 21-45 head of household, seven in ten (71%) do not have children aged 5-14,

We've been working with some of our farm clients on developing adult-oriented events and festivals, some strictly for 21+. This is a mostly untapped opportunity for agritourism farms to expand their customer base and grow their revenues.

DINKS (dual-income, no kids) is a significant demographic group to target for adult-oriented events and festivals. They have high incomes that afford them lots of discretionary leisure spending, including for events focused on food and beverage. They also don't have the expense of raising a kid, which can cost upwards of $26,000 a year.

Since DINKS don't have children, they prefer adult events rather than family-oriented ones where there would be lots of children. Long-table dinners and different types of food festivals that include beer and wine are just two examples of events that appeal to them.

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