HILO — Two of Hawaii’s largest industries are tourism and agriculture. It only makes sense that the two would come together.
A dedicated statewide agritourism industry has been gradually developing over the past decade, after the first statewide association was created in 2007 by Kent Fleming.
“He saw how rural communities were sustained by ag tourism,” said Lani Weigert, current executive director of the Hawaii AgriTourism Association. “It provided access for visitors and residents to experience the culture, the story, the authenticity of a place.”
The core practice of agritourism is a simple one: bringing visitors to working farms to learn more about the ins and outs of managing such a business. It’s about creating connections, Weigert said.
“Farmers have historically been very collaborative; that’s just been the nature of what they do,” she said.
The first Hawaii International AgriTourism Symposium, which takes place on Oct. 15., aims to bolster that collaborative spirit.
The symposium brings together farmers and the non-farming community, such as restaurants, chefs, grocery stores, students, and small businesses. Representatives from the solar energy industry are also planning to attend, Weigert said, along with people involved in the tech side of commerce.
Panelists include Derek Kuritsu of KTA Superstores, who will discuss the local chain’s partnerships with farmers, and restaurateur Sam Choy.
Speakers representing the tourism industry in Japan and New Zealand will also attend.
“We wanted to give more of a global view of what’s happening out there,” Weigert said. “Are we ahead, are we on point, or are we way behind with how trends are going?”
“People want to know the nuts and bolts of it if this is going to be their livelihood,” she said.
The Big Island was chosen as the symposium location because of the number of farms located here, she said. Hawaii County is also the lone county in the state to have a specific ordinance recognizing agritourism as its own entity with regulations separate from its two parent industries.
Efforts to amend the ordinance to create two different categories of agritourism, one for smaller farms and one for larger operations, have been unsuccessful thus far.
On the Big Island, Parker Ranch is the largest example of agritourism. Several locations in Hamakua have embraced farm tours, as have many coffee farms in South Kona.
“They want to hear the story, they want to learn about the crop, and they want to learn how to use the crop,” Weigert said. That’s true of everything from orchids to mushrooms.
Phil Grad, co-owner of Big Island Bees in Kealakekua, said that most people who come to farm tours at have no idea how honey is made.
“It’s kind of neat for people to actually see the bees and how we work with the bees,” he said.
The apiary was established in 1972, but it wasn’t until 2007 that Phil and sister Whendi began to shift from producing commodity honey to building a specialty honey business and incorporating tourism into their business model.
Today, Big Island Bees offers 17 guided tours per week.
Visitors see demonstration hives (the production hives are located across the island) and watch baby bees hatch. They meet the hive queen, and learn the difference between single-bloom and mixed-bloom honey.
“Honey is like wine,” Grad said. “Honey is the flower as wine is to the grape.” When people leave the farm, they’re better educated consumers, he said.
Tours are free, but “people end up buying a lot of honey,” afterwards, Grad said. “It’s a unique gift they want to give to people….It really is a significant part of our business now.”
The company is trying to encourage more nearby farms to add tours, to create a South Kona ag trail.
“Hawaii’s got great food products,” Grad said. “You could spend a day just doing that, eating your way through Hawaii.”
“It does take some effort,” he said. “You can’t just do it overnight.”
The Hawaii International AgriTourism Symposium takes place Oct. 15 at the University of Hawaii at Hilo’s College of Hawaiian Language from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Breakfast and lunch provided. Registration is $125. For more information, visit hiagtourism.org.
Email Ivy Ashe at iashe@hawaiitribune-herald.com.