Paterson appointment boosts agritourism sector

Scotland’s growing agritourism sector took another step forward this week with the appointment of a marketing and communications manager to strengthen promotional support for the sector.

With a number of roles in the food and drink sector, most recently as marketing manager at James Hutton Limited, Laura Paterson joins Scottish Agritourism with a remit to support its drive and growthand market agritourism direct to consumers through the Go Rural brand. Caroline Millar, Angus farmer and the driving force behind the establishment of agritourism as a recognised sector of the economy, said the move would play a key role in delivering further sustainable growth for Scottish Agritourism.

“In Scotland, we define an agritourism business as one which covers tourism or leisure on a working farm, croft or estate which produces food,” said Millar.

She added there had been fantastic growth in the sector in recent years due to a growing interest in local food provenance and a trend towards ‘staycations’.

With around 600 businesses involved in the sector, the recent growth strategy report hoped that this could be increased to 1000 by 2030, with at least half of these businesses providing locally produced food and drink as part of the experience.

Paterson said that she looked forward to showcasing the many opportunities which were available to explore local food and drink and farm experiences throughout Scotland - and to playing a key role in the continuing growth of Scotland’s agritourism sector in the coming years.