Agrotourism, Heritage Tours and Backward linkages (examples from Myanmar)

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

You’ve certainly heard of tourism, culture and agriculture, but have you ever heard of agritourism, backward linkages or how to guide heritage tours in a highly professional way? With examples presented mostly from Myanmar (Southern Shan State) we introduce three modules in the following topics:

Agritourism: Have you ever thought about showing tourists around farms, joining in farming activities, trying local produce, and meeting farmers and their families? Agritourism is where tourism and agriculture meet! It helps tourists explore farms and agricultural landscapes and helps farmers to share their rich agricultural heritage. In this short course, we will introduce you to agritourism and show you how this could be the model for you! The main target group of this course are tour operators, farmers, and guides.

Heritage tourism: Have you always been enthusiastic about old buildings, the history of your place and local authentic food? And have you ever been wondering how to appreciate this rich heritage? Are you keen on sharing this heritage on a tour? But do you feel some lack of confidence to share your knowledge in a good way? If so, then this course is the one you are looking for as we will help you to see the value of preserving the tangible and intangible heritage of your culture and become an ambassador of the heritage to your guests. The main target group of this course are guides.

Backward Linkages between hospitality and farmers: Have you always been interested to learn more about potential linkages between farmers and hospitality sector? For hotels and restaurants, good food has the potential to become a competitive advantage while bad food can damage a hotel’s or restaurant’s reputation for years. This is why it is of great importance for tourism businesses to manage food in a sustainable way, which means finding access to local produce, supporting local farmers and building up a reliable food supply. Are you keen to know more but are not sure how to do this in the best way possible? If so, then this course is for you. Once you have completed this module, you will determine the opportunities and value of linkages between farmers and hotels/restaurants. The main target group of this module are owners and managers of hotels, restaurants, and event managers.

After having completed this course, participants will be able to: