RALEIGH — Agritourism in North Carolina keeps growing. To strengthen this growth, Ann Savage, Carla Barbieri, Susan Jakes and Jackie Murphy recently offered a two-day workshop in Asheboro, NC. Over 50 women in agritourism from all over the state, including farmers, managers and extension agents got together to share ideas about agritourism, expand their networks, and learn from each other. The workshop also had two educational sessions: Guido van der Hoevan spoke about income sales and taxation, and Gary Bullen about the state of overall agritourism businesses.
This workshop was part of the NC Women in Agritourism project, a two-year initiative funded by the College of Natural Resources and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at NC State University through the Dean’s Enrichment Grant. The goal of this research and extension project was to address the needs of NC women in agritourism by identifying the factors challenging and contributing to their success. You can read the key results and learnings from the first research phase in the North Carolina Women’s Success in Agritourism: Turning Challenges into Opportunities factsheet. The team has presented preliminary results of the project in different conferences, including the NC Agritourism Networking Association‘s annual meeting; they also facilitated a webinar among extension agents earlier this year.
— Kristen Rice-Gira
Administrative & Outreach Coordinator
Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management – NC State University
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