Farm Tourism: A Case Study In Florida's Orange Groves

Parks & Recreation, Sept, 2000 by Andrew II Holdnak, Lori Pennington-Gray

One important market that farm tourism has targeted is school groups. These groups may be local or may be tourists from outside the region. Farmers recognize that this is an important market because educating at a young age is a key component to life long stewardship.

Economic Contribution

Farm tourism is often considered an economic alternative for farmers who are facing decreasing profits and might require another form of revenue (Embacher, 1994). Typically, farm tourism operations are family-run. In fact, in many cases the owners of the farm act as both farmer and host. Research has suggested that farm tourism operations are usually run by "empty nesters," couples whose children have grown and moved out of the house (Ilbery et. al., 1998). One of the reasons is that large farm homes have empty bedrooms that can be used to host overnight guests or can be converted to rooms for presentations. Seldom do farm tourism operations employ large numbers of helpers, since labor is the largest operating expense and minimizing employees enables the family to maximize profits.

The Case of Knollwood Farms

Set in the midst of a working citrus grove, Knollwood has been an attraction for area residents and tourists for over 70 years. It was originally built by the famous vaudeville comedy team of "Amos and Andy" in 1930 and is one of Palm Beach County's oldest continuously producing citrus groves. The principal crop of the grove is citrus (several varieties of oranges and grapefruit), which is grown for juice to be sold in the retail area or shipped throughout the country. Tom Dwyer, the manager, says "Tourism introduces our product to the public!" During its peak season, the grove hosts about 600 people a day. Most of the tourist visitation comes during the winter season, though the farm hosts school groups and others year round. Visitor types vary: typically, retirees and school groups visit during the week, while young families tend to come during the weekends. Since the operation has been around for such a long time, many visitors come to expose their offspring to the experiences that they had when they were children. Maintaining and interpreting the cultural heritage of the old Florida orange groves is an important part of the grove's operation.

Dwyer, who grew up on a farm, is acutely aware of the role his operation plays in maintaining green-space in otherwise rapidly developing urban areas. He is a steward of the land and works diligently with city officials and community leaders to maintain an operation that is not only financially feasible, but also sensitive to the needs of the environment and local residents. Because Knollwood is a small grove situated in close proximity to residential areas, pesticides and insecticides have not been used for over 15 years. In addition, Dwyer's notion of sustainable development is reinforced through policies limiting the number tours each day on the farm, thereby controlling the number of visitors to this environmentally sensitive area. Restricting the number of visitors also helps to reduce crowding both in the retail areas as well as on local roadways.