Food rural tour. Agricultural tourism: types and structure. Home hotel income

Just a few years ago, no one in Russia knew about such a vacation destination as rural tourism, which is very popular these days and is actively developing. The number of supporters of tourist destinations is growing day by day all over the planet, including in Russia. Rural tourism, which is often called agricultural and village tourism, allows city residents to take a break from the constant hustle and bustle and noise, relieve stress and relax, breathe in plenty of fresh air, listen to birdsong. In addition, unlike expensive trips to distant beaches, rural tourism allows you to save money - there is simply nowhere to spend large expenses on a holiday in the countryside. We should not forget about the variety of new sensations that rural tourism will give to city residents who are accustomed to being surrounded by endless concrete high-rise buildings.

Rural tourism interesting not only for its low costs and proximity to nature, but even for agricultural work - few city dwellers can boast of experience in feeding chickens or milking cows. In this regard, rural tourists are actively attracted by people who already have extensive travel experience, who have had to lie on the beaches, and ski, and climb rocks, and scuba dive. Range of entertainment offered agricultural tourism, very large - swimming in reservoirs and boating, hiking and cycling in the surrounding area, fishing, hunting, going for mushrooms and berries, as well as a unique opportunity to experience peasant life, touch the ancient traditions of rural residents, get acquainted with the amazing flavor village, regardless of whether we are talking about a French village or town.

Video about rural tourism

In Russia, as we know, there is huge potential for the development of this tourist destination. And, despite the fact that agricultural tourism in our country is still not as popular as in the West, every year it becomes more and more in demand. The audience is also changing - if previously people with small and medium incomes preferred holidays in the countryside, now even very wealthy people do not neglect rural tourism. This is partly explained by the emergence of more comfortable conditions in the Russian outback, as in Western countries. The range of entertainment available to tourists is also expanding. So, for example, boat trips and, of course, horse riding are becoming increasingly popular, which previously did not exist in many popular rural tourism centers due to the high cost of keeping animals. ATV riding in the warm season and snowmobiling in winter are in demand. Walking and excursion routes are actively developing, facilitated by the natural features of the area.

Rural tourism is most widespread in our country in Karelia, Altai, and also in the Kaliningrad region - in regions that are distinguished by their particular beauty and diversity of landscapes and outstanding nature. In addition, agricultural tourism is popular in the Southern Federal District - in the Krasnodar Territory, Rostov Region, and Stavropol Territory. In recent years, rural tourism centers in the Moscow region and Leningrad region have been actively gaining popularity among tourists, including foreign ones.

Rural and agricultural tourism in the World

It is worth noting that in the United States of America and Europe, where it came to our country, rural tourism has been very popular for a very long time - small European villages and famous American ranches are a favorite place for family and individual recreation and an excellent opportunity to spend time on nature. An important factor in the popularity of agritourism is nutrition with natural, environmentally friendly products “fresh from the garden”. In addition, an integral part of rural tourism around the world are rich excursion opportunities - agritourism centers offer excursions to fields and gardens, apiaries and stud farms.

In European countries, especially in and, rural tourism is preferred by up to a quarter of all travelers, especially since in recent years the infrastructure of the village has made a sharp leap forward, and now villages that previously offered, albeit very colorful, but still spartan conditions, can boast comfortable mini-hotels that even have Internet access. It may seem that such an “invasion of civilization”, on the contrary, brings closer agricultural tourism towards sunset, but in fact, this is a matter of personal preference, and more comfortable and modern conditions only allow people who have never previously thought about relaxing in any kind of isolation from civilization to experience all the delights of rural tourism. Such modern centers of rural tourism are popular among tourists who want to relax in the countryside and in nature, but with a TV, telephone and Internet at hand.

In the United States, rural tourism usually involves accommodation in guest houses on ranches or farms, rarely offering accommodation in private rooms in a shared house. The main destinations for agricultural tourism here are the agricultural regions of the Midwest - Colorado, Texas, Nebraska, Missouri and South Dakota. As for – each country has its own unique characteristics of rural tourism. So, for example, in Germany, agricultural tourism cannot do without all sorts of festivals and fairs, where the entire village traditionally drinks beer and mulled wine and enjoys local dishes. There are a huge number of villages in the country, and it is impossible to single out a specific area in which rural tourism would be more developed than in others. In Italy, rural tourism is distinguished by a high level of civilization, but this does not come at the expense of the quality of recreation. Here tourists will be taught how to cook spaghetti and bake bread, make cheese or wine, depending on the specific region. So, if you want to spend time in the vineyards and master the science of wine making, you should go to Tuscany, and if you are interested in the life of a fishing village, there is no better place than Sicily.

Agrotourism is a type of tourism that involves relaxing in the countryside, away from the bustle and noise of the city. Tourists are offered an alternation of difficult peasant labor and serene recreation in nature. Agritourism is not a synonym for downshifting, because downshifting is a renunciation of all the benefits of civilization, and agritourists can use all the necessary amenities (TV, telephone, Internet). Let's look at this popular trend in more detail in the article.

Advantages of agritourism

Retiring in silence in complete harmony with nature is the dream of any person who is tired of the fast pace of city life. You can at least temporarily forget about work, daily responsibilities, public transport, traffic jams, crowds of people, queues.

Many agrotourists are attracted by the opportunity to come into contact with the life, culture, folklore and traditions of their country, which are still preserved in the villages.

In countries such as Spain and Italy, lovers of rural tourism are happy to help local residents engage in viticulture. And in Poland, agritourists take care of horses and participate in horseback riding. In Germany, farmers invite guests to play the role of shepherds.

The emergence and development of agritourism

Today, agritourism is a dynamically developing type of tourism. It dates back to the early 19th century, but has only become popular in the last 60 years.

The world's first agritourism association was even created in France. Ten years ago, a similar organization was created in Italy. Now in many European countries there are associations of agritourists.

Reasons for development

The reasons for the development of rural tourism are social and economic factors. For the economy, agritourism is important as additional income and support for farmers, who, with the development of large cities, have lost their attractiveness and, therefore, income. Now, in this way, farmers have the opportunity to earn money.

Those tourists who refuse the idea of spending their holidays in a hotel by the sea, but want an active and unconventional holiday, often choose rural tourism. Not everyone's vacation means the beach, shopping and noisy parties. Many people, tired of life in the metropolis, long to simply relax in nature in peace and quiet, breathe fresh air and eat natural products.

The essence of agritourism

Agrotourism is a vacation in the village, which involves the opportunity to work in the garden or in the garden. Naturally, an agrotourist is not obliged to engage in peasant labor if he does not want to. But it is thanks to such activities that he will be able to feel complete unity with nature and escape from city worries and obsessions.

About the features of agritourism

In addition to rest and work, rural tourists are offered natural fresh products. Contrary to the incorrect prevailing opinion that an agrotourist should abandon the benefits of civilization and eat what he gathers himself, the agrotourist is offered a comfortable stay in very good conditions, the Internet, and local restaurants.

Agritourism in Russia

The direction has received the greatest development in European countries: Spain, Italy, Poland, Norway, Germany and Belarus.

In Russia, agritourism is still in its early stages of development. This is due to the fact that creating comfortable living conditions, creating agricultural estates and agricultural hotels, and restoring old buildings requires enormous costs. But despite this, in some regions of our country conditions have been created for agritourism. Those farms that are located near large, densely populated cities are in great demand.

The Crimean region of the Krasnodar Territory is known for its winery called “Valley of Lefkadia”. A trip to Lefkadia is an excellent example of agritourism. This is a favorite place for Russian agrotourists. Here they can get acquainted with the intricacies of viticulture and winemaking, as well as treat themselves to artisanal cheese, hunt and fish. Tourists participate in a variety of themed activities, such as lavender picking. Lavender tours take place in the last month of summer.

Russian gastronomic tours

A particularly popular type of agritourism is the gastronomic tour. These include tastings, master classes, and farm tours. There are several wonderful farms in Russia that are highly rated by agritourists.

One of them is “Bogdarnya”, which is located in the Vladimir region. It is a full-fledged complex: a hotel, restaurants, a store, stables and farms. Here they produce yogurt, cheeses (Gouda, Philadelphia, ricotta), and raise bulls using Dutch technologies.

The Zaoksky district of the Tula region has everything necessary for a healthy family holiday: farms, country hotels, old estates, village restaurants and workshops. “Mark and Lev” is the first locavore restaurant in Russia. Local food is eating only locally grown foods. It is recommended to combine a visit to the restaurant with excursions to estate museums, a bread baking master class, craft beer tasting, as well as fishing and horseback riding.

The Lukino farmstead is also located in the Tula region. They produce meat and poultry, grow vegetables, produce fermented milk products and canned food. The farm has a mini-hotel and a wonderful home restaurant.

In the Tver region, agrotourists prefer to visit the Pietro Mazzi cheese factory. There they make cheese, following ancient recipes, prepare Italian delicacies, engage in sheep breeding, conduct excursions for tourists, combining acquaintance with the farm and tastings. The farm has a store and an inn.

In Belarus

In Belarus, agritourism is an area that has gained popularity. There are about a thousand agricultural estates in this country! Belarusian rural tourism began its development in 2004.

The most popular Belarusian agricultural estate is “Komarovo”, located in the village of Komarovo. A park, a bathhouse, a pancake house invariably attract people. Tourists who leave reviews about agrotourism in the village of Komarovo are satisfied with the local nature, entertainment and service.

Features of agritourism in Spain

In European countries, revenues from this area significantly replenish the state treasury. Therefore, the authorities see sense in its development. In Spain, cozy farmhouses are ready to welcome visitors, and ancient estates have become rural hotels. Hospitable hosts offer guests food, accommodation, acquaintance with original local folklore and historical events, participation in various festivals and folk festivities. Villagers are happy to tell legends, fairy tales and beliefs, and conduct sightseeing tours.

In France

France is one of the first countries in the world to begin developing rural tourism. The result is impressive. Revenue from agritourism here amounts to billions of dollars.

In addition to accommodation and food, French farmers offer agritourists an interesting program, including such entertainment as fishing, excursions to wine cellars or a cheese factory, trips to nearby castles, and exciting horseback riding. Agritourists will definitely not be bored. A rich holiday and a lot of unforgettable impressions await them.

Agritourism is in fashion now, they even write songs about it, and St. Petersburg chansonnier Igor Rasteryaev, with the stroke of one string, is able to awaken in people such a longing for their native meadows and fields that the audience cries out loud. And really, why not go? At least once in your life, drink milk from a cow, try on rural worries and sleep to your heart's content in a fragrant hayloft. By the way, people are inviting people to the hayloft from all sides - every eco-farm and self-respecting guest house posts on the Internet a photo of this exotic structure made of freshly cut grass as an advertisement.

NO WORSE THAN IN EUROPE

In Russia today there are 1.5 thousand rural tourist houses (according to unofficial data - more than 4 thousand).Some bold experts estimate the potential in the field of rural tourism at 50-60 billion rubles per year.

This is real,” the head of the agrotourism association, Taras Astakhov, convinced the correspondent six years ago. - Look how many abandoned huts and empty villages we have. Put your hands in, attract tourists - and here you have a highly efficient industry.

Either there is something wrong with the hands, or the reason is that in recent years 28,000 villages have completely disappeared from the map of the country, but mind-boggling billions have gone past the budget. However, according to the association's website, a new tourist destination providing city dwellers with the delights of country life is growing and expanding. The leaders in this matter are Vologda, Kostroma, Ryazan, Tver, Tula, Yaroslavl, Penza regions, Altai, Karelia, Chuvashia, Moscow region and the outskirts of St. Petersburg. One guest house was even found in the rural wilds of Chukotka. The NI correspondent didn’t go that far, she just learned from hearsay that the building’s occupancy rate is colossal, Muscovites sign up a year in advance, while foreigners have a five-year waiting list.

GOT CRAZY FROM SOMEONE ELSE'S EXPERIENCE

Half a century ago, Europe sensed the irresistible craving of city dwellers for rural landscapes and made good money from it. In Italy, for example, up to 50% of the tourism services market is occupied by rural tourism; in France, only 7% of travelers stay in hotels, the rest prefer farmhouses and village campsites. In Spain, one and a half million people visited the countryside last year. The main attraction of such tourism is that you not only relax in nature, but also get acquainted with local traditions, you can mow the grass, milk milk, and help at the cheese factory. For this - free lunch and overnight accommodation for mere pennies.

When starting with rural tourism, the Russian initiators first went to Europe to get experience. Ural officials, for example, even took with them ordinary peasants, who were destined to become pioneers of domestic agrotourism.

We almost went crazy there,” said the head of the subsidiary farm, Vera Kadysheva from the Chelyabinsk region. – We arrived at a family farm, 2000 heads of livestock, countless birds, a husband and wife and a sixteen-year-old son working. Everything is clean and beautiful. When do they have time? We were accommodated in small houses, each with his own room, shower, toilet, bidet. Mom dear! I saw this bidet for the first time in my life, I was afraid to use it. I have a toilet in the garden, cobbled together from whatever I can find, and there is no gas or water in the house. Yes, even in a hundred years I will not be equal to the French! Our bosses reassure us: the main thing is that you learn a little, and everything will be fine with us; the government is interested in domestic tourism. But we were very depressed, especially when the farmer’s son brought us three baskets of eggs for breakfast. We sit and think: why so much? And this is your choice: soft-boiled, in a bag and hard-boiled. There is also a choice of meat - beef, pork, turkey, everything is fresh. At my house I have two pigs, three sheep and a dozen chickens - the guests will eat them in a week and that will be the end of tourism. It was in vain that we only went to Europe.

However, no, the experience was useful. A team came from the region: everyone who wants to make money from rural tourism, weave baskets and lay eggs there. Weaved. The eggs are rotting, the guests are not coming. Thank God, a businessman I knew bought the weaving wholesale - 10 rubles a piece, and it is unknown how much he sold it in the city. But tourism in the Urals has not died. Last year there was certification of the housing stock. The commission traveled to areas and assigned stars to potential guest houses. Everyone, of course, cleaned up, washed the windows, washed the rags in order to get at least one star. But rags are not the main thing. If there was a hayloft, three stars were assigned automatically, and if living creatures were moving and there was a smell of delicious borscht - four stars only.

THROUGH THORNS TO PEACE

“What’s so funny,” Vladimir Frolov from the Yaroslavl region, who cut his teeth on rural tourism, besieged the correspondent. – A new business always breaks through thorns. – And the fact that the state is involved and helps is not bad at all. If only they would give loans for development and for roads, we would raise the village so much that Europe would be jealous. But for now we are stewing in our own juice.

Over ten years of voluntary cooking, Frolov and his wife Elena built two comfortable guest houses in an almost extinct village at the junction of the Moscow, Yaroslavl and Vladimir regions. The geographical location, thanks to which “the rooster crows in three provinces,” has become a tourist feature of their family farm. “People are falling for it,” says Vladimir. Although, besides the rooster, there is something to lure here - the meadows around are vast, the forests are protected, the air is transparent, this does not happen in the city.

But, after a day or two, people got inhaled and headed to Moscow. But the Frolovs need to stay longer - the 8 million they poured into guest houses have not yet been recaptured, they hang on the farm like a dead weight.

The Frolovs own 13 hectares; their initial capital was made from potatoes. She was somehow special, people came all the way from the north to get her. Then the interest disappeared, they began to think about another profitable business, and settled on farming and ecotourism. This is why the guest towers were built. But feeding tourists turned out to be unprofitable.

Five to seven people a week will come, each with their own pickles, I can’t stand at the stove for days. There are also endless complaints - either my stomach hurts, or I need dietary sour cream, 15 percent, and not the kind that contains a spoon,” Elena complained. - We stopped this matter. For a place to sleep we charge divinely - 2000 rubles per day, and take food with you. The kitchen is equipped, there is gas, a microwave, there are beds of herbs planted for them - help yourself!

It must be said that these beds are painful to look at - visiting nature lovers do not consider it necessary to look for parsley in the grass, and there is no such thing at all to pull out the weed. Again, complaints to the owners - it would be better if you planted a lawn. Frolov is a principled opponent of everything artificial, he has eco-tourism, so he is trying to sell pristine nature to tourists.

Many people are not interested in this,” he admits bitterly. “They’ll look at the surroundings for a couple of hours and then go into the house and ferment.” Then we scoop out the bottles in bags. I just didn’t go out of my way to interest him in anything else. He made a museum - he stuffed the barn with all sorts of old utensils - cast iron pots, grips. They’ll come back and say it smells bad here. Of course it smells - two cows behind the wall, piglets, geese. Manure! How did they imagine the village?

In general, it’s not worth being poor. Frolov found a way to intrigue the public - he dug a 3x4 meter pond and lied that a carp had been living there for three hundred years and could make wishes come true. Some people now spend days on the bank looking for carp, and they don’t even have time to get a hangover. Because of the magic, it seems that the contingent of vacationers has also changed. There are fewer young people, 70% of vacationers are women of strong Balzac age, the remaining 30% are elderly married couples. (By the way, this is a general trend in rural tourism). They live a long time, behave quietly, do not ask for food, and pay carefully. So the Frolovs earn 200 thousand rubles a year from tourists. The cow gives them the same amount. The business is flexible, interchangeable: if there are no tourists, they get a second cow; when there is an influx of guests, one is enough.

STARVED

It must be said that farm animals and delicious village food are so atypical for the Russian rural tourism industry that you can’t count on a satisfying holiday. But you can be sure that if you fall into the hands of home-grown businessmen, you will remain not only hungry, but also, as they say, without pants. Here is the testimony of Muscovite Nina Tatarintseva:

“My husband and I are big supporters of a healthy lifestyle, we love nature, we avoid large crowds of people on vacation,” she writes on the “My Land” forum. “When ecotourism began to develop in the country and the opportunity arose to spend the summer in the village, we jumped at it. Our children were already at that age when the world opens up for them, every bug and blade of grass delights them. The first time we went to the Turgenev region, we were tempted - Bezhin Meadow, horseback riding, a strong farm where marbled beef is raised. As a result, we only got a house furnished like a city apartment, with air conditioning, plasma TV, orthopedic mattresses on the beds, armchairs and floor lamps and a lot of other unnecessary things. For these pleasures we paid 20,000 rubles per day. Food - from tea to marbled beef - for a fee. I have never seen such price tags even in Moscow restaurants - a teapot of boiling water with tea leaves - 500 rubles, a rosette of honey - 300. Moreover, it turned out that our farmer does not keep any livestock, there are not even chickens to buy fresh eggs from him. Everything is brought from the nearest supermarket in Cherni with a markup “for delivery”. We started driving on our own. They bought the same sausages and sausages that were boring in the city, and got some greens from the local residents, who were also not averse to doing business on vacationers. As a result, a three-week vacation in the village for a family of four cost us the same amount as two months in Montenegro. Subsequently, for another four years we went to eco-farms in the Smolensk, Vladimir and Kursk regions. Everywhere there is no agricultural activity, you pay for everything. Only walks around the surrounding area are free.”

The NI correspondent was convinced of this herself by calling two dozen guest houses offering services for organizing “village holidays” via the Internet. The lowest price for housing - 2,000 rubles per person per day - was found in the Perm region, in an old hut and a toilet on the street. Shower is not provided. At the other end they were even surprised: “Are you staying with us for a long time? You won’t have time to get dirty in two or three days.” They didn’t promise to feed me either - “there’s a store two kilometers away, everything is there, alcohol is available around the clock.”

On average, a guest mansion with three bedrooms costs from 12 thousand rubles per day. Spending the night in a hayloft with sheets and a blanket - 3 thousand, but people can’t stand it there for long - until the first mouse. Therefore, the hayloft is more likely for the surroundings. Rental of sun loungers and garden furniture - 1,000 rubles per day, barbecue and barbecue accessories - 500 rubles for 2 hours, washing in the bathhouse for the same two hours - 3,000 rubles. A half-hour ride on horseback or in a cart costs a thousand rubles, a visit to an apiary (2 hours) costs 2 thousand. I wonder how much it costs to pet a calf? I can’t speak for everyone, but the Yastrebov brothers from the Vladimir region have a free tour of the farm. You can, as they write, stroke it,touch, feed the pigs, cows, goats, rabbits, horses, milk the cow.They also have a lot of tasty things - for example, whole milk cheeses from their own cheese factory. But prices... From 1500 rubles kg. A little steep for a modest village getaway. But if you compare it with a plate of borscht, which in other places is offered for 800 rubles, and with a portion of pancakes (2 pieces) for half a thousand, then you don’t have to flinch.

Smolyans are not original. They have been playing around with ghosts for a long time in Pereslavl-Zalessky, and once they got so fed up with tourists that they spent the night sitting in the bushes, and by morning they identified the ghost from the moonshine fumes. It turned out to be the owner’s brother-in-law, his going to work cost 200 rubles, and he earned 5 thousand in a month. Locals, if they are friends with the owner of the farm, very often hire him to work or rent out equipment, including pets. Tourists need to be entertained somehow; not everyone came to eat and sleep. Search the Internet to find out what is closer to you: the song and dance ensemble “Vaying Dragonflies” performed by veterans of peasant labor or the making of clay pots under the guidance of the “native son” of the famous porcelain maker Kuznetsov, who died in the century before last. It is also possible to run in sacks over rough terrain for a bottle tied to a tractor, or catch flies with your eyes closed - then the winner also gets a drink.

The joys, of course, are simple, but rural tourism is just beginning to unfold. And here's how it will unfold! Sorry, I don’t have enough imagination to tell you what will happen after this.

The aggressive environment of megacities is extremely tiring for people, so many city dwellers strive to acquire summer cottages and rural estates, where they go to relax at every opportunity. For those who, for various reasons, cannot afford to buy and maintain a country house, agritourism can be an excellent solution - a relatively new direction that involves living in rural areas away from big cities, with the opportunity to take part in various cultural and leisure events.

Considering rural tourism as a business, it should be noted that it is equally of interest to both vacationers and farmers who have at their disposal a sufficient amount of resources to comfortably accommodate several guests. Moreover, tourists perceive the processes familiar to local residents as exotic, and therefore willingly take part in field work, care for animals, rent boats for fishing and pick mushrooms, thereby bringing the owner of a village hotel a good additional income.

Business Features

The main feature of rural tourism is the accommodation conditions: guests are accommodated in old log houses or in antique-style manors, located in areas with untouched nature, far from industrial enterprises and multi-story concrete buildings. With the exception of complexes with complete historical reconstruction, such village hotels provide visitors with amenities at the level of resort apartments: the rooms have bathrooms, air conditioning, televisions and refrigerators, and guests are provided with three meals a day in the dining room.

The main meaning of this type of vacation is to separate the residents of megacities from the usual bustle and immerse themselves in a leisurely and measured rural life. In addition, the tours are also educational: many townspeople have never seen an authentic folk costume, sat with a fishing rod at dawn or milked a cow.

In Russia, rural tourism attracts mainly women, whose share in the target audience reaches 70%. Living in a village may also be interesting for other residents of megacities - married couples with children and young people who give preference to a healthy lifestyle and a clean environment.

Another fairly broad category of tourists are foreign citizens who want to get acquainted with cultural traditions and folklore. For such guests, the natural environment, national flavor and authenticity of rural life are sometimes more important than the presence of a TV in the room. Considering that foreigners select vacation spots mainly via the Internet, it is necessary to develop your own multilingual website with colorful photographs, descriptions of services and price list, as well as regularly post advertisements on foreign travel forums and social networks.

Collective outdoor trips are also common in the corporate environment: managers of various companies buy such tours for their employees in order to conduct events aimed at strengthening team spirit and developing ways of interaction between employees. Such clients usually rent a hotel for a period from several hours to two or three days and pay significantly more for this than ordinary private visitors.

Finally, the concept of rural tourism development implies close interaction with tour operators: companies interested in cooperation on favorable terms will not only post information about home hotel services on their website and in advertising materials, but will also help in developing a high-quality tourism product, organize transfers and entertainment program.

Types of rural tourism

Clients of home hotels have different requirements for organizing their vacation: some simply want to spend time in nature, others are interested in hunting and fishing, others come to the village to get acquainted with folklore and folk crafts. In accordance with the list of cultural and leisure activities, several of the most popular rural tourism programs are distinguished:

Medical tourism. Its goal is to study the means and methods of traditional medicine, collect medicinal plants, as well as carry out health procedures that are in demand by people with various diseases;
Historical tourism. It represents a complete immersion in authentic ancient life, including accommodation in reconstructed huts with minimal amenities and meals with dishes of Old Russian cuisine;
Rural ecological tourism. It involves living in a remote village with the telephone turned off, without television or the Internet. Various cultural events contribute to complete immersion in rural life;
Sports tourism. In this case, the countryside is used as a platform for various sports competitions, hiking, orienteering, rock climbing, rafting, and horseback riding;
Educational tourism. This type of rural tourism involves the study of classical folk crafts - pottery, artistic painting, wood carving, weaving wicker products, embroidery;
Agricultural tourism. Includes active recreation with the opportunity to take part in basic agricultural processes, including grazing livestock, collecting firewood, field work, haymaking, hunting, fishing, picking mushrooms or berries;
Folklore tourism. Aims to study folk art, rituals, oral tales and songs, visit historical places and museums, as well as festivals and fairs held in rural areas;
International tourism. This type of tourism in rural areas may include one or more areas of interest to foreign guests - the study of folklore and folk crafts, history and medicine.

Advantages and disadvantages

An entrepreneur considering how to open a rural tourism business should pay attention to the characteristic features of this activity and take into account their positive or negative impact on the operation of the enterprise as a whole.

The advantages of agritourism include the following factors:

To open a home hotel on a farm, you do not need to obtain a hotel license - just register as a peasant farm or individual entrepreneur;
This direction is considered a priority, thanks to which the entrepreneur has the opportunity to participate in the rural tourism development program;
If you have a subsidiary farm, you can reduce the cost of food for guests by using environmentally friendly products of your own production;
The hotel owner does not have to pay rent;
Using the surrounding natural resources and the potential of the region, you can create an exciting program of cultural and educational events;
At this stage, the industry is characterized by a low level of competition;
To organize rural tourism you do not need to have experience or special knowledge in this field.

At the same time, negative factors can significantly complicate the work of an entrepreneur and lead to additional expenditure of resources aimed at overcoming the consequences of their influence:

Rural areas often lack the infrastructure and resources necessary for tourists to live comfortably;
The activities of home hotels are not regulated by law;
Under the influence of urbanization, villagers quickly forget traditions and lose their identity;
The development of rural tourism in Russia is hampered by the rapid decrease in the number of able-bodied residents of villages and villages.

Required Resources

Of course, not every village will be attractive to tourists: in some settlements there are no attractions or interesting natural resources at all. Therefore, it is advisable to open a home hotel in a region known for its cultural traditions, crafts, architectural monuments and beautiful landscape.

A big advantage will be the presence of a nearby forest and any body of water - a lake, pond or river: visitors will definitely be interested in such active recreation as fishing, swimming, going for mushrooms or berries. Accordingly, the entrepreneur will be able to make money by providing guests with various equipment - boats and catamarans, bicycles, fishing rods, mushroom picking kits.

When choosing where to start rural tourism in such an area, it is necessary to pay attention to the availability of any such resources and evaluate the possibility of using them to develop a program of cultural and leisure activities. In addition, to serve and entertain tourists you can use:

The estate. Several rooms are allocated in the house for guests to stay, and the surrounding area is put in order, flower beds and lawns are laid out, gazebos, barbecues and swings are installed, and parking spaces are arranged;
Pets. Maintenance, feeding and grazing of chickens, sheep, pigs, cows and horses will become part of the entertainment program, and the use of livestock products will provide visitors with fresh milk, meat, eggs;
Garden. For urban residents, ordinary agricultural work will become an active and educational holiday - many of them have never seen potatoes, carrots or corn in the natural environment. In addition, dishes made from these vegetables can be served at the table in the evening;
Orchard. Gardening, harvesting and processing may also be of interest to tourists. Fresh apples, pears, plums, cherries are eaten or used to prepare various desserts - pies, jams, preserves;
Russian bathhouse. Bath procedures are used for health purposes, supplemented with homemade kvass or herbal tea. Fans of extreme relaxation will want to jump from the steam room into a snowdrift or into an ice hole with icy water;
Craft, hobby. Various master classes dedicated to wicker weaving, pottery, woodworking, soap making and other works typical of rural life will help attract and interest customers;
Special knowledge. The hotel owner needs to learn the art of receiving guests, get acquainted with local historical, architectural and landscape attractions for excursions, master the preparation of national cuisine, and also improve communication skills in foreign languages to serve foreign guests.

Arrangement of rooms and territory

An estate that claims to be a home hotel is subject to fairly high requirements designed to ensure maximum comfort for guests. Therefore, when landscaping the local area, it is necessary:

Remove all debris from the site, repair paths, sow lawns with grass and flowers, if possible, find and install carts, their wheels, and antique agricultural machinery as decorative elements;
Provide parking space for visitors' cars;
Clean and put in order the paths to the well, spring and reservoir;
Avoid proximity to abandoned and dilapidated houses, garbage and manure heaps, livestock farms and other sources of unpleasant odor and noise;
Ensure the availability of telephone communication, satellite television and the Internet (many guests will want to immediately publish photos on social networks);
Install artificial lighting on the site;
Arrange rest areas, install gazebos and garden benches, hang hammocks.

Premises intended to accommodate guests must be equipped with ventilation, lighting and heating systems, bathrooms and showers. Of course, some tourists, in pursuit of historical authenticity, will want to live with stove heating, wash from a stream and sleep on beds, but the majority of visitors will prefer a minimal set of amenities:

Living room equipment

Name	Qty	Price	Sum
Bed	9	8 000	72000
Wardrobe for outerwear	3	4500	13500
Linen closet	3	6000	18000
Chair or stool	9	1 000	9000
Dining table	3	2500	7500
Chandelier or wall lights	3	2000	6000
TV	3	9 000	27000
Air conditioner	3	18 000	54000
Router	3	1500	4500
Electric kettle	3	1000	3000
Mini fridge	3	6500	19500
Bedspreads	9	2 000	18000
Pillows	9	500	4500
Blankets	9	2 000	18000
Bed sheets	18	500	9000
Toilet with cistern	3	4 000	12000
Shower cabin	3	12 000	36000
Mirror	3	2 000	6000
Wash basin	3	8 000	24000
Mixer	3	1 000	3000
Boiler	3	5500	16500
Large towel	18	500	9000
Small towel	18	300	5400
Rug	3	500	1500
Clothes dryer	3	1 500	4500
Garden tent	3	3500	10500
Garden furniture set	3	6 000	18000
Brazier	3	700	2100
Set of dishes	3	5 000	15000
Hammock	3	1000	3000
Total:			450000

The area of guest rooms is selected at the rate of at least 6–7 m² per person for double rooms, or 5–6 m² per person for triple rooms.

Catering

Three meals a day are included in the basic package of home hotel services. To organize it, it is necessary to equip a small dining room for 10–12 people, in which you can also install a samovar and place sweets on dishes to organize tea drinking at any time of the day. It is possible that this particular place will become a center for guests to communicate and exchange impressions after a busy day.

The basis of the menu for tourists consists of simple and unpretentious village dishes prepared from farm products. This may include:

Vegetable salads, homemade pickles, fresh herbs;
Homemade milk, sour cream, cottage cheese and cheese;
Cutlets, meatballs, homemade sausage, dumplings, kebab;
Fish and fish dishes;
Various porridges, navy pasta;
Baked potatoes, boiled with herbs, stewed with mushrooms;
Fish soup, cabbage soup, pickles, vegetable and cold soups, borscht;
Homemade eggs, omelettes and scrambled eggs;
Pies, honey gingerbreads, pancakes, pancakes, homemade jam;
Compotes, herbal and fruit teas.

You need to be prepared for the fact that some guests who adhere to a vegetarian or medicinal diet will find the village menu unacceptable and will want to prepare their own dishes from products they brought with them or bought from the farmer. For their convenience, you need to equip a separate kitchen, equipped with all the necessary utensils and household appliances:

Guest kitchen equipment

Name	Qty	Price	Sum
Set of pans	2	3500	7000
Set of frying pans	2	3000	6000
Knife set	2	500	1000
Forks, spoons	2	2900	5800
Gas stove	1	6000	6000
Cutting boards	2	800	1600
Kitchenware	—	3000	3000
Food processor	1	3000	3000
Fridge	1	15000	15000
Washing	1	600	600
Mixer	1	1000	1000
Total:			50000

Leisure organization

Few guests will be satisfied with the opportunity to simply live away from the noise of the city, swim in a clean river, take a steam bath and look at live cows: usually people interested in agrotourism are attracted by slightly different goals - immersion in rural life, active recreation, participation in agricultural work. In addition, many people buy family tours and bring children to the village who grew up in the city and have never seen wildlife. Therefore, a set of various cultural and leisure activities is being developed for guests, including them in the basic package or offering them as additional services:

Agricultural holidays:

Picking berries, vegetables and fruits, working in the fields and gardens;
Pumping out honey, excursion to the apiary;
Feeding and driving animals to pasture, working as a shepherd;
Baking homemade bread;
Setting up a smokehouse, smoking meat or fish;
Collecting sour cream and whipping butter;
Tree felling and firewood preparation.

Leisure:

Hunting and fishing;
Horseback riding, sleigh rides, excursion to a horse farm;
Water procedures, swimming in a river or lake;
Hiking and cycling;
Bath health treatments;
Picnics;
Access to recreational equipment - balls, badminton;
Conducting photo sessions with pets.

Educational rest:

Getting to know local customs, rituals and folklore;
Participation in celebrations, invitation of folklore groups;
Conducting master classes on folk arts and crafts;
Excursions to museums, inspection of architectural and natural monuments.

Investments

When developing a business plan for rural tourism, it is necessary to take into account that the work on arranging a home hotel is not limited to repairs in the rooms: to ensure an acceptable level of comfort and organization of leisure for guests, you will have to tidy up the local area, install air conditioners and satellite dishes, and purchase equipment. It is also advisable to have at your disposal a small minibus for transporting tourists to their holiday destination and organizing excursion trips.

The list of costs associated with creating a hotel of three triple rooms will include the following items:

Investments

Name	price, rub.	Quantity, pcs.	Amount, rub.
SPD registration	—	—	2000
Renovation of guest rooms	75000	3	225000
Guest room equipment	150000	3	450000
Kitchen equipment	50000	1	50000
Yard landscaping	150000	1	150000
Installation of a septic tank for 6 m³	80000	1	80000
Touring bikes	10000	4	40000
Boats	40000	3	120000
Sports equipment	—	—	20000
Development of an information site	—	—	20000
Transport, minibus	350000	1	350000
Total:			1507000

Unfortunately, farm owners engaged in providing rural tourism services do not physically have enough time to serve guests, care for animals and field work at the same time. Therefore, the company needs to hire several hired assistants:

Technical worker for laundry, cleaning rooms, washing dishes;
Animator-guide for excursions and master classes;
Cooks to work in the kitchen.

Expenses for the year

Name	Amount, rub.
Communal payments	36000
Equipment repair	20000
Marketing expenses	30000
Property insurance	10000
Fare	24000
Chef salary	180000
Salary for a tour guide-animator	180000
Cleaning lady salary	180000
Payroll tax	164700
Administrative expenses	24000
Food	369000
Insurance premiums for individual entrepreneurs	27600
Total:	1245300

Revenue and profitability

Agrotourism as a business involves the formation of a tourism product from a whole range of basic and additional services. By default, this includes accommodation in a separate room, three meals a day, the opportunity to contact animals, engage in outdoor activities and agricultural work. When developing a pricing policy, one should take into account the tariffs of similar rural hotels located in the Perm Territory, Karelia and Altai: here, each day of stay costs a tourist 1200–1500 rubles.

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To increase the competitiveness of an enterprise, it is recommended to reduce the cost of services during periods of falling tourist activity and thereby attract customers who want to save money on their vacation. Thus, taking into account seasonal fluctuations in attendance, a farmer renting out three triple rooms can receive an income of 1.74 million rubles during the year:

Home hotel income

Guests on average	Person-days	Tariff, rub./day	Income, rub.
Summer	80%	7,2	648	1300	842400
Autumn	30%	2,7	243	1000	243000
Winter	40%	3,6	342	1200	410400
Spring	30%	2,7	243	1000	243000
Total:					1738800

An increase in the profitability of an enterprise is facilitated by the provision of a set of paid services, the list of which is formed depending on the resources available in a given area: for example, if there is a horse farm, you can organize horseback riding, and if there is a reservoir, you can rent out boats and fishing rods. When drawing up a business plan for agritourism, it is necessary to analyze all available opportunities, and then develop a price list taking into account depreciation of equipment and the cost of cultural and leisure activities:

Additional income

Thus, the total annual turnover of the home hotel will exceed 2 million rubles. Taking into account current expenses, we can calculate the main economic indicators of the project and the expected payback period:

Calculation of economic indicators

Conclusion

When developing rural tourism, one cannot stop there. In order for visitors to return to the hotel every year, the quality of service should be constantly improved, the surrounding area should be landscaped, and new excursions and entertainment events should be developed. However, the most important factor contributing to increasing guest loyalty is the special homely atmosphere that must be created on the farm through the constant display of hospitality, kindness and readiness to provide guests with the necessary assistance at any moment. At the same time, gratitude and enthusiastic reviews from clients will serve as a worthy reward for your efforts.

Rural tourism (or agritourism)- this is a type of tourism that involves a temporary stay of tourists in rural areas for the purpose of recreation and/or participation in agricultural work; sector of the tourism industry, focused on the use of natural, cultural, historical and other resources of the countryside and its specifics to create a comprehensive tourism product.

Mandatory condition: tourist accommodation facilities, individual or specialized, must be located in rural areas or small towns without industrial and multi-storey buildings.

First of all, from rural tourism they expect calm and regularity of rural life, clean air, silence and natural products, comfortable living conditions, a homely atmosphere, reasonable prices, a feeling of closeness to nature, getting new impressions, getting to know local traditions, opportunities for entertainment for children and leisure activities for adults.

Initially, rural tourism in Russia arose as a result of the development of the hotel industry in large resort areas (seaside resorts of the Black and Azov Seas, sanatorium centers).

Currently, due to the changed economic situation in the agricultural sector, characterized by increased mechanization and automation of agricultural production and a decrease in the population employed in agricultural production, the question of finding new types of activities that would replace or complement agricultural activities has arisen.

The development of agrotourism in the territories perfectly solves this problem, since it is the tourism component that can become a “catalyst” for the economic growth of the village. There are several explanations for this.

Firstly, tourism activities are attractive due to small initial investments, because for villagers with very limited funds, this is practically the defining moment.

Secondly, tourism is a profitable industry with a high level of profitability, a minimum payback period, which is very important for quickly generating income.

With the continuing trend of growing demand for tourism services in the world and in Russia, rural tourism services are occupying an increasingly important place. This is due to urban preconditions, an increase in the duration of vacations, and people’s increasing interest in travel. Adding to the interest is the insignificant income of the majority of the Russian population, which makes rural tourism often the only possible way to get a good rest for a very reasonable fee.

The development of agritourism boosts the rural economy. The economic structure of villages is being improved, the development of industries involved in the hospitality industry is being stimulated, and those villages and hamlets that were previously considered depressed and unpromising for the development of other types of activities are being involved in the economy.

To demonstrate the economic efficiency of agritourism farms, let us compare the economic indicators of two projects: “Solar Farm”, p. Mednoe, Tver region and “Olgin Khutor”, village of Bereznyuk, Pechora district, Pskov region.

№	The name of indicators	"Solar farm", p. Mednoe Tver region	“Olgin Khutor”, Bereznyuk village, Pechora district, Pskov region
№	The name of indicators	Annual values
1	Investments in the complex, rub.	31975461,5	220000,0
2	Revenue, rub.	20815500,0	200000,0
3	Expenses, rub.	10906500,0	80000,0
4	Return on sales, %	47,6%	60,0%
5	Payback period of investments, years	3,2	1,8
6	Time to obtain positive NPV at a discount rate of 10%, years	3,8	2,0

Note. The given data is posted on the AgroTuriem Association website http://www.agritourism.ru.

According to the data presented, both projects, regardless of the initial investment, are highly profitable and quickly pay for themselves. Moreover, in the Olgin Khutor farm, with a higher profitability of 60.0%, revenue from the provision of tourism services predominates, while in the Solar Farm farm, with a profitability of 47.6%, revenue is distributed approximately equally - half is revenue from the provision of tourist services. services, and the second half - revenue from sold agricultural products.

But, despite the high share of the agricultural component in the revenue of the Solar Farm farm, the profitability of the sale of a complex agro-tourism product is very high, which indicates that the sale of agricultural products through agro-tourism activities is an effective way to increase the efficiency of agricultural activities, both using processing industries and without them.

Thus, based on the data provided orally by the owners of the considered agrotourism complexes, we can conclude that agrotourism activities are highly profitable, and investments in such projects pay off quite quickly - from 2 to 4 years, depending on the initial investment and share revenue received from the sale of tourism services in the total revenue of the economy.

Recently, rural tourism destinations have become increasingly popular, and the rural tourism business registers an increasing volume of sales year after year, attracting an increasing number of businessmen to this field of activity.

Rice. 1. Trends favorable for rural tourism in the formation of tourist flows

Tourism industry specialists never tire of predicting an unprecedented growth in the development of rural tourism, for which Russia has enormous resources. There are already offers of agrotourism products in Altai, in the Kaliningrad, Leningrad and Pskov regions, and the Krasnodar Territory.

But tourism product not the same as tourist resource. They differ in the same way that the gas in a gas burner differs from the gas in the Shtokman field. And the process of turning a tourist resource into a product is just as long and painstaking, and also requires professional and financial support.

Demand tourism resources(but not a tourist product!) The Russian province undoubtedly exists, this is evidenced by the flow of unorganized tourists in a number of popular places in the middle zone, where there are guest houses, but for the most part there is no rural tourism infrastructure. Consequently, today it is most optimal to call rural tourism in Russia more modestly - "rural hospitality". Perhaps this is even more correct from a historical point of view, since Russian people have always been distinguished by their hospitality towards guests.

Let's define the terminology.

Rural hospitality- the first stage of development of rural tourism. That is, the population of rural areas (possibly urban), including farmers, who have empty houses, rooms or floors in their own houses, provides them with minimal furnishings and the availability of household goods (dishes, bed linen, towels, etc.) for rent from two days to several months. To create a more cordial welcome, hosts can offer additional services to guests: organizing recreational activities (sauna, cooking barbecue, going out together to pick berries and mushrooms, fishing, hunting, horse riding, etc.); inviting a guest to help with simple agricultural work, such as feeding animals, harvesting berries or vegetables.

Guest estates And tourist villages may be the next stage in the development of rural tourism.

Tourist (guest) estate- a tourist facility in a rural area, performing the function of a rural hotel. It consists of a residential building with at least 2 rooms, usually with a bathhouse, gazebo, barbecue area, and outbuildings. It has an adjacent territory, designed in the form of a park, constituting a single cultural landscape with utility and residential buildings.

Tourist village- a tourist facility in a rural area, a specialized hotel that performs the function of a rural hotel. It consists of several buildings (structures), united by a single concept, having a single infrastructure and management.

Another form of agrotourism facility developing in Russia is a historical settlement.

Historical settlement(“historical village”, “national village” or another type of settlement - nomad camp, Bashkir village, “fishing village”, “hunting village”, etc.) - a tourist site in a rural area, on the territory of which there are cultural heritage sites created in the past, representing archaeological, historical, architectural, urban planning, aesthetic, scientific or socio-cultural value, which are important for preserving the identity of the peoples of the Russian Federation, their contribution to world civilization. The main task of a historical settlement is the recreation and reconstruction of the historical socio-cultural environment.

Typology of accommodation facilities

If we take the classification of accommodation facilities as a basis, then there are large country differences. However, several typical models can be distinguished:

Accommodation on farms and estates in the same house with the owner (separate room with amenities) is practiced in most countries;
- Apartments in the same house with the owner or in a complex of buildings on the territory of an estate (agricultural farm) - practiced in most countries;
- Renting an entire house/cottage - practiced in most countries;
- Room in a rural hotel - practiced in most countries;
- Accommodation in historical buildings in rural areas or small towns - practiced in Western European countries;
- Accommodation in a tent camp on the territory of an estate or private campsite is not considered agritourism in all countries;
- Camping accommodation at sports facilities specializing in active sports (equestrianism, cycling, tennis, swimming, etc.) is not considered agritourism in all countries;
- Accommodation in individual cottages of a private tourist center, stylized as a traditional home, but equipped with all amenities, offering a full package of tourism services and specially built in a rural area with a unique landscape - is not practiced in all countries.

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