Farm tourism taking root in PH

Mina T. Gabor

The Philippines hopes to boost farm tourism as it hosts the Global Farm Tourism Summit on July 17-19 at the Summit Ridge Hotel in Tagaytay City.

Dr. Mina T. Gabor, president of the International School of Sustainable Tourism (ISST), said the event would be an opportunity for the exchange of ideas and sharing of experiences among the countries, as well as local delegates, participating in the international conference.

Initatives

She would particularly want to see more local government officials participate so they could learn from their colleagues, who had successfully pursued farm tourism, how the initiative was helping their communities and how it could be adopted in other places.

The former tourism secretary said more Filipino farmers were becoming interested in developing their farms into tourist destinations to supplement their income from crop production.

Demand for this kind of travel program was growing, she said.

The idea of organized farm visits was boosted significantly when they decided to call it farm tourism instead of the old agritourism, she said.

With incentives and other forms of support being extended under the Farm Tourism Development Act, more farmers were opening up their land to visitors.

New destinations

Gabor said Philippine farm tourism destinations had opened up from north to south, with destinations ranging from a small 20-square meter mushroom production venture to vegetable farms like one devoted exclusively to eggplants to orchards and vineyards where people can pick fresh fruits for a fee.

Many farms were drawing both local and foreign tourists and had also become learning centers, Gabor said. Visits by students were organized so they could learn firsthand about farming and farmers.

The summit’s theme, “Managing Climate Risks through Sustainable Farm Tourism,” was very relevant, Gabor said, as farmers were among the most vulnerable to weather disturbances. But they could also contribute significantly to reducing its negative impact through smart, more environment-friendly agricultural practices.

Gabor said farm tourism was not only helping increase farmers’ incomes but was also drawing back to the farms many young people who had turned their backs on their families’ means of livelihood.

She said the young people were usually taking care of the business side of farm tourism, like marketing, financial management and other administrative responsibilities. Traditional farmers, for instance, Gabor said, priced their produce without including the cost of their labor, one reason why their incomes were low.

With their children in charge of the financial aspect of the business, prices of produce had become more realistic as labor cost was now being factored in. Young people were employing new technologies and using social media to increase their farms’ appeal to tourists and to promote them as destinations.

Gabor also expected the growing appeal of farm tourism and the additional income it brings to farmers to reduce the conversion of farm lands for other purposes so they could continue to be used for food production.

Extra income

She said farm tourism could be a way to make the most out of the country’s 7,000 islands. Each community could focus on one specific product and collaborate in raising the value of that product, she said.

Farm tourism, Gabor added, would not only increase the incomes of farmers but also boost the economies of communities that pursued and promoted it.

Gabor’s ISST conducts training programs for people interested to go into farm tourism.