Scottish Agritourism Hosts Global Agritourism Conference 2026

Aberdeen became the global capital of agritourism last week as Scottish Agritourism welcomed over 550 delegates from 50 countries to the inaugural Global Agritourism Conference at P&J Live. The event, the first global conference exclusively focused on agritourism, showcased Scotland’s leading role in this fast-growing sector. 

Global Agritourism Leaders Deliver Key Insights

Across three packed days, the conference examined critical topics for the future of global agritourism: Policy, data, consumer trends, sustaining family farms, rural community resilience, innovation, and agritourism’s vital role in being the sales arm of agriculture.

Standout speakers included Klaus Ehrlich, General Secretary of the European Federation of Rural Tourism; Hans Embacher the leader of agritourism in Austria; Pandurang Taware, Father of Indian agritourism; Annemarie Gerards, Project Manager Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions; John Stanley, farm retail consultant, Australia; and Lisa Hogan of Diddly Squat Farm Shop and Clarkson’s Farm, who discussed her new venture, Only Farmers. 12 countries, including Scotland, took part in sessions on industry benchmarking, providing an overview of how their agritourism sector defined and measured their sector impact.

Scottish Government Champions Agritourism Growth

Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs, Gillian Martin MSP, attended day three of the conference, engaging in breakout sessions, meeting with key agritourism operators from across the country, and delivering an address to delegates praising Scotland’s agritourism sector growth and global leadership:

“I am proud to say that the Scottish Government was able to support this effort with £150,000 in funding to help bring it to life.

“In Scotland alone, the value of the agritourism sector has grown from £110 million in 2021 to £292 million in 2025 – surpassing even our most ambitious targets. Visitor numbers have also exceeded expectations, reaching 2.5 million people visiting farms – well beyond our 2030 target of 2 million. And importantly, we are seeing more farms and crofts becoming involved. We now have nearly 900 actively engaged in agritourism, keeping us firmly on track to reach 1,000 by 2030. These figures are more than just statistics, they are a testament to the drive, innovation and resilience of Scotland’s farmers and crofters. And they highlight the vital role agritourism plays in sustaining rural communities, supporting local economies, and creating new opportunities across the country.

“I was delighted that one of my first tasks in office was to approve payments to 124 successful applicants under the £1 million Agritourism Investment Scheme. Amongst the successful applicants were new entrants to agritourism; island businesses are well represented; and there are many of the younger generation involved.

“I would like to conclude by expressing my sincere gratitude to Caroline Millar for her dedication, hard work, and perseverance in promoting and organising agritourism in Scotland, as well as for her instrumental role in bringing this highly successful inaugural World Conference to Scotland.”

Scottish Agritourism Farmer Host Immersive Tours

100 Scottish Agritourism farms opened their farm gates to delegates either by hosting pre- and post-conference learning journeys, core tours as part of the conference, or hosting young scholars. Many of the international visitors began their experience of Scottish farming and food at the Royal Highland Show before going behind the scenes on farms to learn about farming, agritourism, and farm retail.

The immersive farm tours, with the opportunity to meet the real people behind Scotland’s agritourism sector, significantly enhanced the delegate experience ahead of the main two days at the conference venue.

Examples of host farms included Forest Farm Organic Dairy near Aberdeen, drawing 250,000 visitors annually, known for its milk vending machine, gelato, café, gardens, and on-site pizza; Balgove Larder near St Andrews, a celebrated farm shop with artisan butchery and the distinctive Steak Barn restaurant built from potato boxes; and Charleton Farm in Angus also welcoming 250,000 annual visitors, a soft fruit farm with a popular café, wedding venue, children’s play area, and year-round events.

Agritourism Scholarships Empower Young Leaders and Foster International Collaboration

To foster the next generation of leaders, 30 international scholarships were awarded to support scholars’ professional development, peer support, and international knowledge exchange, with one young person representing each country.

This enabled people from countries including South Africa, Puerto Rico, Kazakhstan, Albania and Canada to be represented. The youngest scholar, Izzy Mallouk, age 16, travelled from Lightning Ridge in Australia, 9 hours northwest of Sydney.

The Global Agritourism Conference scholarship programme also included 8 CalMac Young Farmers, representing Scotland’s island communities. The programme provided conference tickets and access to the Royal Highland Show, courtesy of RHASS.

Scholars attended a development session at Barra Castle, home to a thriving agritourism enterprise, hosted by Julia Latto of Scottish Enterprise and Caroline Millar, Scottish Agritourism Sector Lead. Following the three-day conference, 20 scholars chose to stay with a Scottish Agritourism member on their farm to learn more about the sector and the host’s business.

Global Agritourism Conference Celebrates Scottish Food and Drink

Scotland’s renowned food and drink took centre stage throughout the conference, with support from the Scottish Government and Quality Meat Scotland enabling an innovative approach to local sourcing. Across three days, 90% of the produce was sourced from Scottish Agritourism member farms and other neighbouring farms in their communities, the largest sourcing of food and drink direct from farmers in any conference to date at the P&J Live venue.

The gala dinner supported by Azets offered a four-course tasting meal followed by a cultural experience of a ceilidh. Civic receptions provided delegates with opportunities to engage with regional leaders, including the Provost of Aberdeenshire, Councillor Judy Whyte, and the Lord Provost of Aberdeen, Councillor David Cameron.

Scottish Agritourism’s Global Impact: Legacy, Collaboration, and Inspiration

The conference was hosted by Scottish Agritourism, the national sector body, following a competitive bidding process led by Caroline Millar, who commented on the event’s success:

“Within the National Strategy for Agritourism we had a bold goal to host a global agritourism conference prior to 2030, and we were able to bid for this inaugural conference and win the bid exactly 2 years ago.  Since then, a small but focused team has been working on the delivery of all elements of this conference with the support of so many members of our agritourism community in Scotland.

The feedback has been extremely positive, particularly about the delicious farm-to-fork experience we curated and the extensive range of on-farm tours which have taken delegates across a number of regions, including a 5-day learning journey I led to Orkney and the Highlands.

We are extremely grateful to all our sponsors, suppliers, members and the delivery team at Abbey Conferences who have helped deliver a lasting legacy globally for Scotland. We hope that Scottish farmers not involved in agritourism will be inspired to do so as a result of this global event.”