Destination Southern Tasmania CEO Alex Heroys said “Agritourism is one of Tasmania’s great brand strengths and something our visitors and locals love to experience.
The opportunity to meet the maker and producer is becoming more difficult in our modern world and connecting visitors to the land, and the food and produce that comes from it, creates an amazing experience. It also supports regional communities and spreads the yield into these important communities”
“Curringa Farm is a 750 acre working sheep and cropping farm, where Tim Parson’s parents began farm stay accommodation in 1984 and farm tours in 1989.
“Tim and Jane have led this Agritourism push for over 40 years and now have 9 luxurious cottages spaced around the 300-hectare farm that are fully self-contained with private views of the farm, lake and nearby mountains,” Mr Heroys said. “Guests travel from around the world – many have returned two or three times since and some have revisited five times over a 12-year period.
Mr Heroys said Tim is currently attending the 2nd World Agritourism Congress in Bolzano, Italy, as a presenter, to discuss the Curringa Farm story over the last 40 years, and in his role as Co-Chair of the Australia and New Zealand regional committee to the Global Agritourism Network.
Tourism Tasmania’s CEO Sarah Clark said they are definitely seeing a trend towards agritourism, noting that “travellers are increasingly seeking authentic experiences where they can connect with producers and learn about the heritage of the local products. Clark said, “We’re so lucky in Tasmania that many of our agritourism offerings are boutique experiences, with multigenerational family-run businesses like Curringa Farm creating unique opportunities for visitors to engage with and learn about the history of their produce and land.”
Curringa Farm tours are suitable for adults and children with a focus on modern day best practice farming and conservation activities.
The tour includes a sheep shearing demonstration and watching the farm dogs rounding up several hundred sheep.
Overnight guests, who book a tour, travel around on the farm bus to see niche seed crops that are exported to European countries, Japan and North America. Animal feeding of highland cows, alpacas and chickens are also enjoyed by young and old.
Mr Heroys said Curringa Farm won Tasmanian’s Best Tourism Attraction in 2018 at the Tasmanian Tourism Awards and three National awards, bronze, gold, bronze in 2014,’15 and ‘16 for Hosted Accommodation.
Currently, there is a lot of focus on the final product or the “Plate” end of “Paddock to Plate”. Tim and Jane’s aim is to celebrate and honour the “Paddock” end of this journey by farmers who have grown food and fibre for generations and are often unrecognised for these efforts by the urban community who depend on these staples for survival.
Please remember on the 17th May to thank a farmer and learn a little bit more about agriculture on World Agritourism Day.
