In Scotland, we define agritourism as "tourism or leisure on a working farm, croft, or estate, which produces food or fibre".
This encompasses farm accommodation, tourism activities, or events that take place on a farm or in farm shops that sell their own products directly to visitors.
There is growing consumer interest in food provenance and sustainable tourism.
By positioning agritourism at the forefront of visitors’ minds, we'll facilitate ways for visitors to enjoy, appreciate, and understand the best of Scotland’s natural larder.
Agritourism has a distinct market offering in the tourism and events sector due to its strong food and drink, and experiential aspect.
By taking in best practice from around the world, the Scottish agritourism sector aims to grow itself, thereby benefitting rural economies and communities in the process.
The local and Scottish urban markets are important to the sector, as are the wider UK and International markets.
Scotland can drive economic impact for the rural economy, using its high-quality / welfare farm produce. But it can also do so by leaning on its history of farm hospitality, authentic people, stunning landscapes, and farming culture.
Building demand for Scottish farm produce, can bring thousands of people on to Scottish farms each year.
This can showcase to visitors that Scotland is the “go-to” place to buy farm food and drink, and taste great food.
Scotland wants to lead the way in net zero rural tourism through environmental and biodiversity good practice in farming businesses.
This will help Scotland being the visitor destination for exercise and to access green spaces.
Agritourism can be a vital extra income stream to support and benefit farms, crofts, and estates. This will help sustain family livelihoods and rural communities.
This also enhances opportunities for the wider family (women, future generations) to expand farming or tourism related operations to the core working farm business.
Scotland will welcome the World Agritourism Conference in 2026. This conference will showcase the diversity and growth of the agritourism sector in Scotland.
Find out more about the World Agritourism Conference on scottishagritourism.co.uk.
Scottish Agritourism 2030 is the strategy for sustainable growth for the agricultural sector. It provides a shared vision that aims to:
sustainably develop the rural economy
protect family farms for future generations
build consumer awareness and loyalty towards local produce
celebrate the history and heritage of these important Scottish communities
The Implementation Board of Scottish Agritourism 2030 is co-chaired by:
Linda McAllister, Senior Tourism Sector Development Manager, VisitScotland, also sits on this board.
Published November 2021
In 2025, we asked Scotland’s farms, crofts, and estates to take part in an annual survey. This helped us understand how we could grow the agritourism sector and to establish the size and scale of the industry.
The survey findings showed that agritourism in Scotland has already surpassed two of its major 2030 goals for value and visitor numbers. It found that:
The tracker was undertaken in August and September 2025. It based its findings on the responses of over 200 farms and crofts.
Published March 2026
Download the full Scottish Agritourism Growth Tracker 2025 results PDF
Find out how Solsgirth Home Farm are developing their business, expanding their offering to visitors.
Discover how to potentially improve your farm by running it sustainably and for the benefit of the local community.
Watch our inspirational video of Old Leckie Farm to inspire your own promotional videos.
Find everything you need to improve and grow your tourism or events business.
