TEHRAN – Five agritourism farms will come on stream in the lush and fertile regions of East Azarbaijan province, northwest Iran.

“They would be the first-ever agritourism farms to be inaugurated near the cities of Tabriz, Maragheh, Marand, and Jolfa,” the deputy provincial tourism chief said on Tuesday.

“East Azarbaijan enjoys diverse agricultural products which provide a good platform for attracting tourists in different seasons of the year and holding festivals of agricultural products,” the official explained.

Agritourism is a subset of a larger industry called rural tourism that includes resorts, off-site farmers’ markets, non-profit agricultural tours, and other leisure and hospitality businesses that attract visitors to the countryside.

It is a relatively new branch of the travel industry in which tourists stay with local people in rural areas. Farm/ranch recreation refers to activities conducted on private agricultural lands, which might include fee-hunting and fishing, overnight stays, educational activities, etc.

Agritourism and nature-tourism enterprises might include outdoor recreation (fishing, hunting, wildlife study, horseback riding), educational experiences (cannery tours, cooking classes, or tea or coffee tasting), entertainment (harvest festivals or barn dances), hospitality services (farm stays, guided tours, or outfitter services), and on-farm direct sales (u-pick operations or roadside stands).

Experts believe that in addition to the customer services jobs, agritourism pays special attention to the production sector, saying agricultural tourism is much more important and practical than other branches of tourism because it creates a new chain and diversity in the field of production and services.

AFM