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White Hutchinson Leisure & Learning Group, Kansas City, MO, USA

How large an industry is agritourism?

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that in 2021 there were 2,300,754 family farms in the U.S. They define a family farm as any farm or ranch where the majority of the business is owned by an operator and by related individuals to any of the operators. Family farms account for 98% of all farms.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture found that in 2021, 69,000 family farms exclusively or partially engaged in agritourism activities which include:

• Recreation, such as hunting, fishing, or horseback riding
• Hospitality, such as housing overnight guests (such as a B&B) or guided tours
• Entertainment, such as festivals, rodeos, or petting zoos.

Direct-to-consumer sales at farmer's markets, roadside stands, on-farm markets, and u-pick are not included as they are not defined as agritourism. However, 15% of agritourism farms do offer direct-to-consumer sales in addition to their agritourism offerings.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture found that between 2020 and 2021, farm participation in agritourism increased by approximately 10,000 farms.

Southern Belle Farm, one of our agritourism clients

Agritourism is a huge industry. There are almost 12 times as many agritourism farms as movie theaters, including drive-ins (5,798) and 24 times as many bowling centers (2,829).

With agritourism's rapid growth likely to continue, it is serious competition to other types of location-based entertainment.

Our company has worked with agritourism farms for over 28 years, helping them in all aspects of design, development, and growing their businesses. Many farms we work with have revenues in the $millions, exceeding most family entertainment centers. Several of our agritourism clients have attendances in the 100s of thousands and revenues exceeding $10 million a year.

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