|
|
| Keeping in Touch with Tourism: Agritourism conference coming to area |
By: Beth Wiles, Pulaski Tourism Director
|
Posted: Saturday, January 10, 2009 6:29 pm
|
Tourism Director Beth Wiles
|
|
|
The Missouri Department of Agriculture (MDA) will host the 2009 Missouri Agritourism Conference, themed "The Future Looks Bright," on Jan 16-17 at Lodge of the Four Seasons in Lake Ozark. The conference will be a two-day learning experience for those who are looking to enter the agritourism industry, are agritourism operators or are extension agents. The conference is sponsored cooperatively by MDA, AgriMissouri and the Missouri Farmers' Market Association.
"Missouri's agritourism businesses continue to provide families with a multitude of educational and fun day trips or weekend adventures that cannot be found in urban areas," said Don Steen, director of MDA. "Visitors to an agritourism operation have many opportunities to learn more about agriculture, pick their own fruit, tour a working dairy farm, pet a variety of farm animals, take a hay ride into a pumpkin patch, get lost in a corn maze and even discover Missouri's wine country.
Conference participants will hear on topics including: Identify Your Potential and Business Planning, How to Conduct School Tours, Running a Retail Shop on Your Farm, Romancing the Media, Bragging Rights: Successful Missouri Agritourism Operations, How to Use Social and Online Media to Brand Yourself, Adding Haunted Attractions: The Pros & Cons, Food Safety and much more.
The Missouri Farmers' Market Association will hold their annual membership meeting in conjunction with the conference on Jan. 17. Farmers' market masters and market vendors are encouraged to attend the meeting to learn more about growing heirloom tomatoes, gain salesmanship skills, innovative marketing ideas and hear the 2008 successes of markets and vendors across the state. Farmers' market participants need to register with Missouri Farmers' Market Association Secretary Eileen Nichols at eileennichols@sbcglobal.net.
For more information on the 2009 conference, visit www.mda.mo.gov or www.agrimissouri.com/agritourism.htm. For more information about the conference program, contact Sarah Gehring or Lane McConnell at (573) 751-4339 or via email Sarah.Gehring@mda.mo.gov or Lane.McConnell@mda.mo.gov.
Related articles
Planning vacation before school starts
Posted: Tuesday, August 4, 2009 11:45 am
Plans are in place for local promotions
Posted: Tuesday, June 23, 2009 3:37 pm
Think local for short weekend vacations
Posted: Monday, April 13, 2009 2:05 pm
County is good for conferences
Posted: Monday, March 16, 2009 11:54 pm
Staff promote area through trade shows
Posted: Thursday, January 22, 2009 3:49 pm
Tourism Bureau announces activities
Posted: Saturday, January 10, 2009 6:33 pm
THIS ARTICLE: Agritourism conference coming to area
Posted: Saturday, January 10, 2009 6:29 pm
Click here to comment for local opinion |
|
Printer-friendly format
|
|
|
|
