QFF is establishing a peak industry body for agritourism in Queensland to launch in May 2024.
The peak body will represent the interests of primary producers who have established agritourism operations as well as those primary producers looking to diversify their farming business with agritourism. In parallel with this project, QFF will be developing an agritourism planning guide for local governments.
Agritourism helps to maintain the viability of active farms and rural communities.
Queensland’s primary producers recognise that agritourism allows them to diversify and generate additional income through on-farm activities and that agritourism enterprises support and promote agricultural resources, traditions and culture.
There is currently no representative body to advocate for and provide advice to primary producers with agritourism operations.
The establishment of a peak body to represent the sector is critical, as agritourism and policy creation for linking tourism and agricultural development are essential to leveraging key opportunities for the sector and creating a united voice.
Agritourism offers opportunities for farmers to:
In line with this project to establish a peak body for agritourism, an Agritourism Planning Guide for Local Governments will be developed. QFF has engaged the services of Precinct Planning to develop the guide and will be engaging key stakeholders for their support and endorsement.
Navigating local government regulation and planning requirements is becoming increasingly difficult for farmers. As activity in agritourism increases, many councils are finding it challenging to meet demand.
There needs to be more consistency across various Councils regarding their approach and attitude towards agritourism for various reasons.
This guide will be a capability-building resource for Councils to achieve a more streamlined, industry-friendly and consistent approach to planning assessments in agritourism and provide guidance on planning for rural worker accommodation on farm.
The guide will be launched in line with the peak body in May 2024.
In 2020, QFF in partnership with agritourism specialists Regionality Pty Ltd developed the Queensland Agritourism Roadmap (the Roadmap) to assist Queensland to realise the $4.5 billion dollars that could be generated by the agritourism sector for the Queensland economy by 2030.
The Roadmap identified the core themes and strategic actions where collaborative effort is required to establish a thriving agritourism sector across regional Queensland. The three core themes were: Strategic Leadership; Regulatory and Policy Reform; and Agritourism Sector Development.
In the spirit of this collaboration, DAF partnered with QFF to provide funding to deliver the Queensland Agritourism Grants Program which concluded in June 2023. That program offered primary producers a 50% co-contribution up to a maximum of $25,000 to match their own funds, to help them establish or expand into agritourism.
In early 2023 QFF won further funding to establish a peak body for agritourism and to develop a local government planning guide for agritourism.
A special thanks to the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for providing these videos.
This project is made possible with funding from the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and the Queensland Farmers’ Federation.
