The rise of agritourism in France

Agritourism, also called agrotourism, is a component of rural tourism that has experienced significant growth in recent years by offering stays in agricultural areas.

 
This offer meets the needs of resourcing and disconnection felt by tourists, a need that is even more present since the health crisis.

French tourists are increasingly looking to go green during their holidays to escape a stressful daily life while recharging their batteries in vast natural spaces. They are also looking for authentic stays during which they have the opportunity to interact with locals and learn new things. Agritourism meets all these expectations and is suitable for adults and children alike. Rural areas thus benefit from substantial economic benefits and this type of tourism helps to increase tourist attendance in these areas.

In 2016, rural tourism accounted for 30% of overnight stays, i.e. a third of French tourist attendance, according to the General Directorate of Enterprises. Agritourism, a branch of rural tourism, is defined as a form of tourism whose object is the discovery of the agricultural know-how of a territory and by extension of the landscapes, social practices and culinary specialties resulting from the Agriculture. Today, nearly 14,000 French farms carry out activities related to tourism such as complete stay offers, catering or leisure activities allowing you to discover the life of farmers.

There are two major organizations in France qualifying this type of stay, Accueil Paysan and Bienvenue à la Ferme. The first is a network that was created in 1987 and which today has 900 members in France as well as 300 others in 32 different countries. Accueil Paysan is made up of farmers and rural actors committed to peasant agriculture as well as sustainable, fair and united tourism. The tourist services offered by this federation are numerous and varied, such as peasant lodges, peasant campsites, guest rooms on the farm, reception tables and many more.

There are many clever places to visit and things to watch. Nice cottages, beautiful countryside and marvelous nature. You can even experience gardening and farming, picking up vegetables and looking at hot it all works. Many French tourist farms are well-equipped, having modern features, such as high garden beds (like these, for example - https://gartendek.de/product-category/hochbeet/) mixing it with traditional approach.

The second network, Bienvenue à la Ferme, was created in 1988 and currently has nearly 1,000 national members, making it the number one network in terms of number of members. In addition to the different types of accommodation on the farm promoted by the network, a large number of activities are also offered to visitors such as visits to educational farms, introduction to horse riding... Welcome to the Farm also allows everyone these member farmers to make direct sales of the products resulting from their production. The turnover from the many activities offered by the members of the network amounted to 1 billion euros in 2016.

In addition, for the 4th consecutive year, Bienvenue à la Ferme is joining forces with Airbnb and MiiMOSA to launch their joint call for projects called “Tous à la Ferme”. Two new partners have been added to the program this year, Les Grappes, which is a platform for direct purchases and reservations with winegrowers, and Winalist, a digital platform for booking wine tourism activities.

Error: module module_ulenta_comments not found in system!