Farm tourism taking root in Philippines

Millennials in farming and sustainable farm tourism practices were among the topics in the first Global Farm Tourism Summit.

The Philippines’s farm tourism sector promises a bright future with the emerging worldwide trend gaining interest among youth said International School of Sustainable Tourism president. Dr. Mina Gabor is optimistic about farm tourism gaining more traction in the country as more and more farm owners are showing interest in transforming their land into a viable tourism destination.

She highlighted how millennials have gained interest in the union of farming and tourism as a component in the economic rise despite the common perception of farming as a less lucrative choice of livelihood.

"This is the situation now, young people are leaving farms, but they are coming back for farm tourism. That’s the beauty," she said in a recent media conference.

Gabor stresses technology as the key component in driving millennial’s attention to farming. She added, "A lot of the millennials are actually the ones running the farms for tourism now and they marry technology with all their knowledge in digital marketing to push their farms as destinations.

Gabor said, "Farm tourism is meant for small farmers, even those with a small area of 20 square meters. There are various ways of implementing farm tourism, such as putting up urban farming and farm schools."

Gabor encourages people who are interested in farming, especially the young, to undergo training for farm tourism provided by ISST. The training courses tackle introduction on farm tourism, funding, marketing and plan for sustainability.

She emphasises that funding will not be a problem as ISST’s training courses shed light on creative and effective ways on how to seek financial help.

More important, after putting up the farm and getting the necessary funds, making the income-generating avenue sustainable is the next challenge.

"You have to stay there. You have to continually bring innovation, something new," she added, stressing how product development is important in sustaining your farm.

Millennials in farming and sustainable farm tourism practices were among the topics in the first Global Farm Tourism Summit.

With the theme "Managing Climate Risks through Sustainable Farm Tourism," the summit aimed to tackle the role of farm tourism in the achievement of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

It highlighted farm tourism’s contribution to the inclusive and sustainable economic growth, social inclusiveness, employment and poverty reduction.

Gabor said that farm tourism plays a vital role in alleviating the environmental risks of climate change. "Very few realize that the first ones to be affected by climate change are the farms and yet it is also the farms that will provide the solution to climate change."

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Valere Tjolle

Valere is editor of SustainableTourism02 – this week’s Vision story here