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- Bring on the Bu$e$
- Farm markets can become destinations
- By Karen Gentry
Associate Editor
- It’s not your grandmother’s motorcoach tour anymore. Gone are the days of gawking sightseers looking out the window.
Farm markets, shopping at country stores, crafts, u-pick, nostalgic farm tours can all draw buses to growers’ operations. Tour industry leaders said that farm marketers should let tour operators and senior groups know who they are and that they are interested in groups.
“There’s increasing demand for experience-based travel. Many well-educated individuals are looking for authenticity,” said Kathy LaTarte, chairman of the board of the National Tour Association (NTA) and owner of New Horizons Tour & Travel in Jackson, Mich. NTA is a national organization with 700 tour-operator members and 3,000 supplier members. She said industry leaders stress their business is “package” tours that include traditional motorcoach tours.
“It’s getting off the bus and going and doing. The bus is motor transportation,” said LaTarte. “Travelers are looking for unique and different experiences,” she said.
These travel trends play well for farm marketers hoping to capture a part of the $156 per day or $6,500 daily spent by travelers per motorcoach, based on NTA statistics. There are about 44,000 commercial motorcoaches in use and 4,000 private motorcoach companies in the United States and Canada, according to the Motorcoach Census 2000 report conducted by a Washington, D.C. research firm.
“A lot of our members will customize tours for particular customer interests,” said LaTarte. She suggests that farm marketers consider becoming a supplier member of NTA. At NTA’s Web site at www.ntaonline.com marketers can do a search to find companies that do ag tours or companies in their area that they could possibly partner with. Nearly 20% (117) of NTA’s tour operator members, offer agricultural packages of some type, according to Doug Wade, NTA media specialist.
“Farmers don’t see themselves as salespeople. They need to sell what they have to offer tour operators,” LaTarte said. She said travelers are interested in dude ranches, gourmet cooking vacations and responsible tourism such as eco-friendly and sustainable operations.
NTA holds conventions where suppliers can schedule seven-minute meetings with operators to pitch their operation in an upbeat, professional environment. “Suppliers can meet with 60-70 tour operations in one convention,” said LaTarte.
There are two kinds of motorcoach groups, the day-trippers and those on organized longer tours, according to Jane Eckert, owner of Eckert Agrimarketing, based in St. Louis, Mo. Her family’s operation, Eckert Country Store & Farms in Belleville, Ill. attracts approximately 100 buses per year.
Seniors make up approximately 95% of the Eckerts’ bus tours. Eckert said that banks are the main organizer of senior tours and typically have a person on staff to handle the tours. “Seniors enjoy traveling together. They don’t want to go far from home,” said Eckert. To capture buses from the day trip market it helps to be close to a larger urban area, she said.
For extended travel Eckerts might be a stop on a tour that also takes in the sights of St. Louis before journeying 35 minutes to the Eckert operation.
“Develop a rapport for hosting this type of group and then package them,” said Eckert. She said groups on buses enjoy coming to Eckerts for u-pick peaches and apples. The Eckert operation now includes an expanded restaurant to better attract the bus tour market.
“At the first opportunity, let them go shopping,” said Eckert. “Seniors love to shop,” she said. She said groups are looking for nice restrooms and personalized service. Operations should have handicap facilities as many travelers use walkers and even oxygen tanks.
The Eckerts offer craft activities for groups which includes making and assembling gingerbread houses. In this project employees package and box them for customers and put them on the motorcoach. They charge $9.75 a person for the gingerbread project. They also make floral wreaths.
It’s all about “once they stop, how to get them to spend more,” said Eckert.
The average motorcoach includes 44 people, according to Eckert, although NTA officials stress the trend is also for smaller, special interest groups of 16, 18, 25, 30 people. Trying to capture more of the motorcoach market takes advance planning. Farm marketers could begin making contacts for 2003 because it’s likely too late for this year, according to LaTarte.
Eckert said she served as the greeter on the bus and visitors appreciated a family member telling the history of the farm. She said it’s important to point to the restrooms and tell the visitors what activities are available to them in their allocated amount of time.
“Seniors like to come to farms,” said Eckert. She said guided farm tours and the history of the farm are especially enjoyed by seniors. During guided tours they may make stops at areas of interest to a particular group such as trickle irrigation. She said Eckerts charges $2-3 per person for the guided tour. When groups pick apples or peaches, employees will bag and put name tags on the bags and load onto the motorcoach.
Bus tours of seniors are mostly scheduled during the week. “It’s a wonderful week time business,” Eckert said. “There’s 45 people bringing their wallets.”
Senior tours are not at all related to kids’ activities, according to Eckert. “It’s retail and returning to the farm,” she said. She suggests that seniors would enjoy a farm implements display, a tour of cider making area and behind-the -scenes tours, something you can’t get in the city. Eckert said that seniors are into sampling products. “Service is appreciated,” she said.
To attract buses on longer tours, Eckert recommends working closely with convention and visitors bureaus to try and become a stop. Her family operation is involved with convention and visitors bureaus in St. Louis, Illinois and Missouri who help advertise their operation with pitches to operators. She said often groups book far in advance and sometimes look at farm markets as activities for spouse programs.
Packaging with other nearby attractions is also recommended. She said groups stopping at a nearby popular restaurant may often make stops at Eckerts.
Intergenerational travel, especially with grandparent and grandchild have become popular. Eckert said FAM (familiarization tours) for operators and travel writers are another vehicle to get involved in. Although tours are comped for those on FAM tours it’s a good way to get the word out about your operation, according to Eckert.
She said bus groups don’t require extra staffing, just careful scheduling.
“The bus driver is always comped. We usually give them a gift, a bag of apples, peaches or apple butter,” said Eckert. Bus drivers are also given a free meal. She said bus drivers sometimes also serve as the tour escort and often have some latitude on whether to stop or not. “It’s important to keep them as your friend,” she said.
Judy Kehr, director of retail for Friske Farm Market in Northwest Michigan agrees that it’s a given that bus drivers and tour leaders should be given a gift or discounts on products. Kehr’s family operation, located on busy U.S. 31, attracts a couple of buses each week during the travel season in summer and fall. Their farm market includes a bakery, a craft and gift shop and Memory Lane with old collectibles and farm equipment that men “absolutely love,” said Kehr.
“Most of it’s (bus tours) spontaneous,” said Kehr. She believes Friske’s brochures and word-of-mouth convince some drivers to stop on their way further north, often to Mackinac Island that is an hour away. Located half way between Traverse City and Mackinac, the Friske operation makes a fine restroom or pie break.
“It’s almost an instant $500 in 15 minutes,” said Kehr. “It gives you an extra boost,” she said. She said bus leaders will typically give them at least 30 minutes notice, enough time for staff to restock and get ready to hustle. Kehr said 90% of the bus tours include senior citizens who enjoy the Friskes’ craft and gift shop and the fresh fruit. She said men are content to let their partners shop while they enjoy items on local history, John Deere memorabilia and old farm implements from the Friske’s nearby growing operation.
- Lines waiting to checkout are a challenge and they have experienced problems with theft, according to Kehr.
She advises farm marketers not to be afraid of bus tours. Kehr said someone always greets the bus and she makes sure the bus driver leaves with brochures or catalogs to distribute. Visitors to Friske’s Farm Market have come from as far away as California and many from Wisconsin and Illinois.
Carol Jordan, a small tour operator and NTA board member based in Oklahoma, hosts agricultural tours in Oklahoma and California. Her customers are foreigners primarily from England and Australia who are looking for high-tech, ag operations not typical of their countries.
She stressed that agriculture operations need to have parking for buses and enough room for buses to get in and turn around.
“When I started doing this in 1986, there was nobody doing it. Now a lot of people are doing them,” said Jordan about agricultural tours.
For more information on Eckert AgriMarketing call (314) 862-6288, visit www.eckertagrimarketing.com or e-mail eckertagrimkting@aol.com.
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