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June 26, 2025
Haley Dalian
Creating additional offerings for campground guests that leverage your natural surroundings is a great way to diversify revenue streams and stand out in the local campground crowd. To learn more, we spoke to Elizabeth Stuart, owner of Crossing Creeks Farm.
Beyond increasing demand for campsites in recent years, the outdoor hospitality industry has witnessed an increased drive for immersive experiences in nature–quintessential among them, the farm visit! With a little strategic investing, campground operators can offer the best of both worlds: modern hospitality with rural and natural appeal. Agritourism is a great way for campground owners (or farmers!) to diversify their revenue streams by adding value to the camping experience through additional services. Let’s explore the harmony between these industries and how you and your campers can benefit.
Ranging from small, seasonal operations to year-round, fully integrated revenue streams, agritourism offerings can vary significantly. Here are some common examples of agritourism services:
You don’t have to be a full-blown working farm to incorporate these agricultural experiences at your property, and you certainly don’t need to incorporate the entire list. You also don’t need to build an entire campground from scratch on your family’s farm to generate meaningful, ancillary income. Next, we’ll discuss how to pick and choose your agritourism offerings based on the existing strengths of your land and camping brand.
No matter the size of your land or occupation, you have an opportunity to consider what’s special about your natural surroundings that might appeal to visitors. If you’re an established business like a working farm, consider what aspects of your farm might draw visitors in. If you’re a landowner considering how to best monetize your land, complete a competitive analysis in the surrounding area—what could you create and offer that would be distinctive to your local area and help people connect with nature?
Elizabeth Stuart, owner of Crossing Creeks Farm campground in Shelbyville, Tennessee, explains how her business started as a humble farm with an RV hookup. They’ve since expanded to become a full rural retreat campground by adding additional RV sites, glamping sites, and even a dog park. Elizabeth also got creative with how to better incorporate their agricultural land into their camping offerings.
“One of the ways we leveraged our natural surroundings on the farm to create an extra experience for our guests was to make some walking trails through our front woods. These woods are beautiful, but not very useful for us to farm on. The creeks wind through these woods making for scenic, fun, adventurous trails. It was a perfect solution for taking some unusable land and making it usable,” Elizabeth said.
Amazing farm and campsites aside, Crossing Creeks takes hospitality a step further to provide their guests with special experiences that make each visit particularly memorable. Guests can not only enjoy a rural camping stay, they can also:
Is there a topic of interest related to your land, business, or personal life that could be of interest to your guests? Offering educational experiences at your campground can be a great way to provide guests with an unforgettable visit and further monetize your existing property.
“Our regenerative farming practices focus on the benefits of diversification and so it has organically carried that same model over into our business. Opening our farm into the camping industry has been an amazing blessing for our farm’s revenue. Plus, it allows us to share the importance of regenerative agriculture to more people. Diversifying the areas of revenue of the farm allows us to continue farming,” said Elizabeth.
Crossing Creeks Farm found a natural bridge between their farming practices and business methods—you can, too.
Read Next: How to Run a Green Campground
Once you’ve identified opportunities for revenue diversification through the power of agritourism, your next step is to partner with a powerful software provider. Built for campground owners by campground owners, Campspot serves over 2,700 private and public campgrounds across North America.
“Campspot’s reservation software has been an amazing blessing to our farm as well as our guests. It is much more user-friendly than what we were using, and our reservations have increased since adding it to our website,” said Elizabeth.
When selecting a modern reservation system, be sure to partner with a tool that saves you time and increases your revenue. Look for a system that:
With all of these features of Campspot in mind and more, you can begin to envision how Campspot is looking out for a campground operators’ needs while empowering them to diversify. For example, the ability to advertise agritourism experiences seamlessly during the online booking workflow increases your conversion rate along with guest satisfaction. Plus, an easy-to-use platform reflects positively on the overall reputation of your brand from a quality customer service perspective, trustworthiness scale, and much more.
Yes! You don’t need to start from scratch to incorporate agritourism. Many campground owners enhance their offerings by using underutilized land for seasonal activities like nature trails, farm tours, or petting zoos. These small additions can generate new income and create richer guest experiences.
Not at all. While some agritourism businesses grow from working farms, others are developed by campground owners who add agriculture-inspired activities or partner with local farms. The key is offering authentic, nature-connected experiences your guests can’t find elsewhere.
Agritourism opens up ancillary revenue streams through tours, classes, events, and on-site sales. It also encourages longer stays, off-season visits, and repeat bookings—all of which support a healthier bottom line for campground owners.
Modern reservation platforms like Campspot help advertise and manage agritourism offerings by integrating add-ons into the booking process. Tools like dynamic pricing, point-of-sale systems, and event promotion features simplify operations while boosting exposure and guest engagement./
Taking the time to brainstorm how to add value to your campers’ experience can pay dividends down the road. As with any business endeavor, or revenue diversification plan, be sure to create a business plan that can be shared with investors, partners, and team members and serve as a point of alignment. When you’re ready to start acting on your plan, always keep the spotlight on your guests to deliver an exceptional experience at every turn. That way, you’ll ensure you’re helping to create lasting memories that will drive loyal visitors, repeat stays, and positive word of mouth—both off and online.
Want to see Campspot in action? Request a demo today! We’re camping people, too, and we’d love to chat.
Header Image Credit: The Campground at Big B’s Delicious Orchards
Haley Dalian is an environmental scientist, outdoor enthusiast, and steward of our planet. She enjoys skiing, scuba diving, and gardening in her home state of Michigan. As Campspot’s former marketing manager, Haley continues to write content that empowers campground operators through essential tools and confident know-how.
The interview in this piece was originally featured in April 2022. The post has been updated to incorporate new information and best practices on the topic of agritourism.
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