The following material is excerpted from the publication, "Agritourism in New York: A Market Analysis." To order the complete publication, click here and select "Publication Order Form."

Introduction

Many farm businesses in New York State today are opening their doors to visitors. Farm stands, wineries, maple syrup and honey producers, greenhouses and plant nurseries, and Christmas tree farms are just a few of the many types of farm-based businesses that are open to visitors. Documenting the status of these agritourism enterprises involves study of the management and marketing strategies used by their owners as well as the economic impacts provided by this growing business sector around the state.

In order to provide farmers across the state with up-to-date information about agritourism, NY Sea Grant and Cornell University's Farming Alternatives Program, in conjunction with the Cornell University Statewide Committee on Community and Economic Vitality Tourism Work Group, conducted a two-part study of agritourism business owners and their customers in New York State.

The New York State Agritourism Business Study consisted of a customer survey and a business owner survey. The customer survey was conducted in 1999 with the assistance of six agritourism business owners in New York State. These business owners were requested to ask their customers to complete a short survey.

Where do Agritourism Visitors Come From?

Where visitors come from varies according to the type of agritourism business. Retail-oriented businesses such as farm stands, greenhouses, maple producers, Christmas tree farms, U-pick operations, and livestock breeding and sales farms all have more than 50% of their customers coming from the home county of the business. Both farm-stay bed and breakfasts and wineries have more of their customers coming from outside their home counties. These latter two types of businesses frequently participate in statewide and regional promotional efforts, which may contribute to their ability to "pull" customers from further distances.

Visitors From New York State. The largest proportion of the visitor market for agritourism in New York is local residents. In both the customer and business owner surveys, more than half of the customers were reported to have come from either the home county of the business or counties adjacent to the home county.

Visitors from Other States. The percentage of agritourism customers coming from other states was relatively small for both the customer survey and the business owner survey. Of those customers who did come from states other than New York, most came from the closest region - New England and the Mid-Atlantic.

Visitor Characteristics

Understanding your customers is the key to cost-effective marketing and promotion efforts. Questions on both the customer and business owner surveys sought to identify visitor characteristics such as type and size of group, age, length of stay, and gender. Data on repeat customers were also gathered.

Type of Group. According to study results, most customers visit agritourism businesses with friends and/or family. In fact, according to the customer survey, 72% of visitors came with family members and 31% came with friends. Groups of friends and family members constitute agritourism's "core market", a market that will most likely continue to be the bread and butter of New York's agritourism businesses. Small percentages of customers are part of organized tours or school groups, indicating potential markets for future promotional efforts.

Size of Group. Understanding group size is important for planning facilities, accommodations, and services. While the average group size was 6.5 individuals, most groups actual contained 2 to 4 people, in fact, that is consistent with the large number of families that visit agritourism businesses.

Customer age. Age is important to consider when determining markets because it is often related to the interests of customers. Both surveys show that large percentages of children and adults between the ages of 20 and 59 visit agritourism businesses, another indication that agritourism businesses are most often visited by families. These older customers may be visiting agritourism businesses specifically for the shopping experiences they provide.

Length of stay. Approximately 79% of the responding customers indicated that they were visiting the area just for the day (this includes local residents and vacationers on day trips); 7% stayed for two days and 5% stayed for three.

Gender. According to the customer survey, female visitors comprised 57% of all customers. While a male customer was present in groups 87% of the time, a female was present in groups 98% of the time. Women may visit agritourism businesses more frequently than men for two possible reasons. First, women may have a greater interest in taking children to agritourism businesses. Second, women may be more likely to shop for the products found at agritourism businesses. These results indicate that agritourism promotional messages should be consistent with (or at least not in conflict with) the tastes, values, and interests of women and families.

Repeat customers. Repeat customers are the core of most businesses, and agritourism businesses are no exception to this rule. In the customer survey, 48% of respondents reported that they were repeat customers. Responding business owners indicated that 72% of their customers were repeat customers. The high percentages repeat customers in both surveys point to the quality of experiences provided by agritourism businesses and also to the critical role customer satisfaction plays in keeping customers coming back.

Development a marketing mix. The optimal mix of marketing and promotional strategies will be unique to each business's budget, geographic area, products and services, location, and customer base. In both the customer and business owner surveys, respondents were asked to identify the marketing and promotional strategies that they used. The results of both surveys show that word-of-mouth is the most effective method of attracting visitors. In addition to word-of-mouth referrals, customers often found out about agritourism businesses from newspapers.

While word-of-mouth advertising was found to be the most cost-effective option available to business owners, business signs, newsletters, direct mail, and brochures were also found to be moderately to highly effective, but at higher costs. Moderately to highly effective promotional strategies with very high price tags (i.e., television, radio, and newspaper advertisements) should be carefully evaluated by business owners after they are used to determined if income resulting from them has offset their high cost.

Visitor Preferences

The high level of repeat customers found in both surveys appears to indicate a high level of customer satisfaction with agritourism businesses in New York State. Ninety-five percent of respondents to the customer survey reported that they enjoyed their visit "very much", while 4% indicated that they "somewhat enjoyed it" and 1% that they "did not enjoy it." The business features most enjoyed by customers were mainly related to the availability of family activities, the setting and hospitality of the business, tasting food and/or wines, and picking fresh fruits and vegetables.

Customer survey respondents were also asked what types of activities they would like to try in the future. Sampling local foods and wines, picking produce, horseback riding, and going on hayrides were the leading activities. Participatory activities such as these may be useful for increasing customer numbers and improving customer experiences.

Discussion

The results of this study have many implications for business owners seeking to improve their promotional and marketing strategies. First, the owner's type of business will likely influence particular visitor markets. Second, identifying the group type and size, gender, and age of customers will provide much insight into the values and interests of customers. By learning what customers are interested in, business owners can better develop businesses that cater to these interests. Third, providing quality products and experiences for visitors once they reach a business is crucial for increasing word-of-mouth advertising and encouraging repeat visitors. Fourth, using a mix of promotional strategies will help businesses attract diverse markets. Fifth, evaluating promotional and marketing strategies to see if they are cost-effective will help cut down promotional costs in the long run by weeding out those strategies that do not attract enough visitors to offset their cost.

In summary, promotion and marketing are the keys to initially attracting visitors. However, the long-term success of any agritourism business depends on the quality of the experience and products that visitors receive and the spread of positive word-of-mouth advertising by visitors.

For more information, contact:

New York Sea Grant
SUNY CESF
205 Marshall Hall
1 Forestry Drive
Syracuse, NY 13210
Tel: (315) 470-6561
Fax: (315) 470-6956

Community Food and Agriculture Program (CFAP)
216 Warren Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
(607) 255-0417
dlh3@cornell.edu