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School Tours

Decision Making Tool

School Tours

Decision Making Tool

Are You Ready to Host School Tours?

Do you like working with children? If so, school tours might work for you.

School tours are seasonal, usually occurring in June and September through November depending on location and weather. If you have tractors and wagons, washroom facilities, a seating area, trained staff, etc., for school tours, consider offering other types of tours to utilize those assets. Examples of other potential tour groups include:

• daycare • summer camp • cubs • scouts • brownies • guides

• home-schooled children • private schools • seniors • tourists

Tours diversify your farm income and give you cash fow during times of the year when you may have limited income sources.

School tours are the most effective way to target market to young families. School tours were developed as a marketing tool to attract young families to visit farms that market direct to consumers. The theory was that if the class learned something and had fun during the farm tour, the children would get their parents to take the whole family back to that farm on the weekend.

Initially, tours were offered at no cost to students because of the beneft the operators derived by advertising to their target market. As schools recognized the educational value of school tours, farmers began charging. The fees were small at frst but have grown steadily over time. Now, depending on the population you have

Learn more about:

The Management Side of Farm Tours.................................. 2

Who is Your Target Audience?.... 2

Policies........................................ 2

Logistics...................................... 3

Planning the Tour........................ 3

Staffng........................................ 9

Safety........................................ 10

Liability Insurance......................11

Classroom Setup. ..................... 12

Parking...................................... 12

Continuing Education................ 12

Helpful Websites....................... 12

And a whole lot more!

Note: The costs listed in this Decision- making Tool are based on 2007 values.

Agdex 888-11