Vermont hosts second-ever world agricultural tourism conference

Breakfast is key to the overnight experience at Liberty Hill Farm, in Rochester where Beth Kennett has welcomed guests for 38 years. By serving Vermont maple syrup, Cabot yogurt, sausage and rhubarb muffins, she shows guests where their food comes from and the integrity of the work that goes into that food.

Kennett will share her experience with agricultural tourism as one of the opening speakers who will welcome attendees from around the world to Vermont at the second-ever International Workshop on Agricultural Tourism. The conference starts Tuesday at the Hilton Lake Champlain Hotel in Burlington and will include organized tours to several farms.

She is excited that farmers hosting guests has grown into an international movement over the last four decades. “I think it’s just phenomenal how this whole agritourism movement has grown exponentially,” Kennett said. “Here we are part of this worldwide phenomenon. It’s such a huge honor for Vermont, a world stage.”

Agricultural tourism has become an economic driver in Vermont. The practice contributed $51.7 million to the state’s economy in 2017, according to agricultural census data collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture every five years. At that point there were 1,833 Vermont farms selling directly to consumers and 186 farms providing agricultural tourism and recreational services. The same year, Vermont Department of Tourism’s 2017 benchmark study found that 35% of visitors surveyed visited farms or farmers’ markets.

This week’s conference was organized by Lisa Chase, director of the Vermont Tourism Research Center at the University of Vermont. She attended the first workshop in 2018 in Bolzano, Italy, with an eye to bringing the conference to Vermont.

“Italy developed agriturismo as a way to keep rural communities and families working on the land and taking care of the farm buildings,” Chase said. 

“It’s a super exciting opportunity to showcase Vermont farms and food to a global audience,” she said. “Many of the people coming to Vermont had never even heard of Vermont.”

And yet, Chase said, Vermont farms and food, especially its cheese, maple syrup and cider, are world class. 

There are 350 people from 35 countries attending in person this year, Chase said, and 100 to 200 more expected to join remotely. In all, she said, people from more than 50 countries will attend in person or online.

“It’s very cool to have Vermont host this international group of folks from all over really excited about sharing their farms, sharing their families, sharing their stories,” Kennett said. 

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