A blog post on eco-tourism that apparently ignores agriculture.
2 Replies to “No agricultural ecotourism”
I think agri-tourism is sometimes a bit over rated.
I did something like that a few years ago in Tuscany, Italy. When we arrived it was wonderful, a vineyard on one side and an olive orchard on the other. Clean air and a wide open countryside.
Then came the crop spraying together with the insects they were apparently spraying for — it smelled like cockroach poison. Then came the tractors stirring up dust and making noise first thing in the morning.
I don’t quite know what we were expecting, but it wasn’t that. Regardless of if they are organic or what type of agriculture it is, these are still busy places where people have to work. They don’t always make the best place to spend a vacation.
I agree that, depending on the place, this may not be the most restful kind of holiday — although some people want to get involved in farm work. I was thinking more of using agricultural biodiversity specifically as a way for poorer people, not Tuscan farmers basking in the sun of EU subsidies, to attract ecologically sensitive tourists. In theory this would provide farmers with additional income and an incentive to protect the agricultural and cultural diversity that mkes them worth visiting.
I think agri-tourism is sometimes a bit over rated.
I did something like that a few years ago in Tuscany, Italy. When we arrived it was wonderful, a vineyard on one side and an olive orchard on the other. Clean air and a wide open countryside.
Then came the crop spraying together with the insects they were apparently spraying for — it smelled like cockroach poison. Then came the tractors stirring up dust and making noise first thing in the morning.
I don’t quite know what we were expecting, but it wasn’t that. Regardless of if they are organic or what type of agriculture it is, these are still busy places where people have to work. They don’t always make the best place to spend a vacation.
I agree that, depending on the place, this may not be the most restful kind of holiday — although some people want to get involved in farm work. I was thinking more of using agricultural biodiversity specifically as a way for poorer people, not Tuscan farmers basking in the sun of EU subsidies, to attract ecologically sensitive tourists. In theory this would provide farmers with additional income and an incentive to protect the agricultural and cultural diversity that mkes them worth visiting.