Jane Eckert Talks AgriTourism Today » Agritourism travel

Agritour to Israel – January 4-13, 2011 – Hosted by Eckert AgriMarketing

Jane — Tue, 04 May 2010 19:30:05 +0000

I am pleased to announce that I will be hosting my fourth annual Agritour and have chosen Israel as the destination for January 4-13 2011. We will depart as a group from Newark, NJ and arrive in Tel Aviv where our tour begins.

Agriculture in Israel is found on the kibbutz where we will be touring local farms. A highlight of our trip will be meeting Steve Applebaum, an international expert on orchard drip irrigation and speaker/member of the International Fruit Tree Association. Steve will be our host at Kibbutz Ortal to view their orchards and packing house. Our trip includes touring of several kibbutzim as well overnight accomodations at Kibbutz Nof Ginosar and Kibbutz Yahel. Today, the agricultural activities on the kibbutz are also supplemented by the development of tourism or agritourism activities as we have here in North America.

Other ag stops include a tasting at the Golan Height Winery, touring a state of the art dairy barn, viewing the Yair research station to learn of new innovations in the Arava region plus a meeting with a representative from the Israel Ministry of Agriculture. We will have lunch under a Bedoin banquet tent, concluding with a camel ride for all.

We end our trip by spending a couple of nights in Jerusalem and visiting the important sites of our Christian heritage which includes the Mount of Beatitudes, Capernaum, Garden of Gethsemane, Via Dolorosa, Bethlehem, the Garden Tomb plus a memorable boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. Our travel company, Dehoney Travel, has been taking groups on spiritual pilgrimages to Israel for over forty years.

Getting to know a country and their people through agriculture is truly a way to connect at the deepest level with the tour experience. The Israel Agriour will truly be a once in a lifetime experience to see this county from two perspectives. If you want to read more about the trip and costs go to my website Eckert AgriMarketing to learn more. If you desire a printed brochure just send me an email through my website and I’d be happy to mail to you. For tour questions, you can also contact Dehoney Travel in New Albany, Indiana.

Agritour to Costa Rica features Strawberry Grower

Jane — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:21:20 +0000

This past January, I led a farm tour to Costa Rica, and I wanted to share with you a special stop that truly made our trip unforgettable.

We were the first time guests of the thirteen-member Salazar family who are strawberry growers very near the Paos Volcano. This was the first time time the family had hosted an agritour and they went all out to make our visit special. They built a special building just for us! YES, it’s true. Upon arrival the family ushered us into a new building (complete with restroom) where they gave us a fresh strawberry fruit smoothie and then told us about the farming operation.

Following the presentation, we toured the strawberry fields which were all planted under high tunnels. This allows them to have total control of the moisture applied to the berries otherwise they would have too much rain for the crop. These growing methods allow them to pick strawberries almost twelve months a year. They don’t have any agritourism activities on the farm but they sell all their strawberries at local farmer’s markets.

After the field tour we went back inside the new building and were treated to strawberry shortcake. Each and every farm stop in Costa Rica proved very special to our group but the Salazar family will certainly be remembered. If you would like to see pictures from the farm tour and read more about more farm operators on our COSTA RICA TRIP just click here.

Plans are now underway for our 2011 Israel Agritour January 4-13. Details to be ready soon.

Agritourism In Ontario Canada

Jane — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 17:20:50 +0000

Recently, I was in Ontario, Canada conducting ten farm mentorship consultations for the Ontario Farm Fresh Marketing Association. I am pleased to report that they have a great variety of agritourism operators from farms just beginning in agritourism to some that are very sophisticated in their offerings.

For instance, I visited Clovermead Bees & Honey where I had my first “honey tasting” experience. At the Yee Haw Adventure Farm I was treated to the “duck races” and a face-to-face hillbilly adventure. Ernie Muzylowsky, at Apple Land Station showed me his farm train that he uses to haul people to the apple orchard. Anne & Hugh Nauman not only take their products to the local farmer’s market but they also have an on-farm market and were completing a new rope maze to be ready for this fall season. I even flew to the Thunder Bay area of Ontario to visit Sue & Gerry Gammon of Gammondale Farm.

If you would like to visit some of these farms with me you can by taking a look at the two videos that I produced after this trip. You can view the first You Tube Video here or go to the second You Tube Video.

The agritourism industry in Ontario is a well organized group. Thank you Cathy Barolic, Director – Ontario Farm Fresh for inviting me.