Ag Tourism businesses have more to gain by working together than on their own and through Cluster meetings can explore joint opportunites.
Suppose you operate a farm tourism enterprise as a sideline to your main farm business. Five miles down the road, someone else is doing the same. They’re a competitor and you’d be better off without them, correct?
Not so fast. As AAFRD's Ag Tourism Cluster Development Project is showing, it might be more advantageous to view that neighbour as a potential partner in attracting mutual business. There’s a good chance you’ll draw more visitors working together than individually.
“Our ag tourism initiative is focused on developing and encouraging the industry,” says Carmen Andrew, Red Deer-based Organization Development Specialist with AAFRD’s Rural Business and Diversification Branch. “We feel that integration between ag tourism operators, by joining together in clusters, can be a key element of future growth.”
Andrew explains that an ag tourism cluster is a group of stakeholders and operators who unite dispersed sites, and increase the profile of their operations and region under the banner of a marketing theme and jointly run events.
In Alberta, the cluster concept first took flight in 2004, with the initiation of three pilot projects that resulted in the creation of four clusters. Today, seven regional clusters are active in Alberta, from the southwest (Pincher Creek, Porcupine Hills and Cardston) to the northeast (Bonnyville, Cold Lake, Elk Point and St. Paul). These clusters operate a variety of themed events to draw visitors and dollars to their area.
Meet, don’t compete, with your neighbour
AAFRD, working closely with stakeholders like Travel Alberta, local municipalities and other local tourism organizations, are encouraging the success of these clusters and the creation of new ones. Andrew notes that AAFRD’s project has set criteria for cluster-ready ag tourism groups.
First, members of the group must already have market-ready products to sell. Second, they must have a critical mass of ag tourism operators. Third, they must have the support of local stakeholders. With these ingredients in place, AAFRD can provide facilitation and workshops to help get the cluster off the ground.
“It's amazing to me that you can have a group of ag tourism operators in the same area who don't know each other and have never worked together,” says Andrew. “They might know each other by name, but they don't really know each other. If nothing else, this gives them the opportunity to cross-promote. For example, if you have somebody staying at an ag tourism ranch, and they're looking for something to do, don't send them to Banff, send them to someone in your area. Whatever you can do to get traffic off the highway will be good for everyone.”
Works for Cold Lake
For any ag tourism cluster, proximity to large population centers is highly desirable. The shorter the driving distance, after all, the more likely it is that people will take the time to visit.
Still, with the right attractions and smart marketing, distance needn’t be an insurmountable problem. Just ask Greg Sawchuk of Muriel Creek Cattle Company near Ardmore, one of the founding members of the Northeast Ag Tourism Cluster centered in Cold Lake. This group runs what it terms a ‘super farmer’s market’ that gives visitors access to traditional and exotic agricultural products from local producers.
“When we first met, we found that many of us were struggling with the same issues, because we are pretty far out in a rural location,” says Sawchuk, a cow-calf producer who also markets grass-finished beef and pasture-raised poultry and pork. “The big issue for all of us is how to get our products to new markets and customers.”
The Northeast Ag Tourism Cluster has learned first-hand the importance of consistent and effective advertising in drawing visitors. Their well-advertised 2004 event attracted more than 1,300 people. In 2006, with relatively weak promotional support, attendance fell to 300.
Since advertising can be costly, Sawchuk believes the all-for-one philosophy of ag tourism clusters makes economic sense.
“There are a lot of benefits,” he says. “When you develop advertising or hold special events, now you have an opportunity to spread the costs over several businesses. Because each of us has a different business than the others, we can all promote each other. If we can offer people more places to go, then so much the better for our customers.”
With some of Alberta’s ag tourism clusters entering their fourth year, Carmen Andrew sees a growing level of sophistication: not just in their products and events, but in their willingness to see a neighbour as a partner rather than a competitor.
“I think that ag tourism operators in Alberta are constantly evolving and maturing,” she says. “They are adding a food component to their offering, they're adding an entertainment component, we are just seeing more maturity, and the success of clusters is part of that process.”
Want to learn more about ag tourism clusters? Visit www.agtourism.ca or contact Carmen Andrew at RITE 310-0000, (403) 340-5542. |  | 
Cheshire Brook Country Store is one example of a business involved in the Northeast Ag Tourism Cluster. |