Christmas tree farm in Ohio sees agritourism growing

The start of summer is busier than anticipated at a Christmas tree farm in the heart of Ohio's Cuyahoga Valley.

There are dozens of tents and eager campers ready to stay the night among the trees. It is an atypical camping experience that Heritage Farms owners George and Carol Haramis have offered for almost a decade.

George Haramis told Fox Business that it never occurred to them that they could camp on a Christmas tree farm. This has been a family farm for 175 years and each generation had done something different. Camping is one small part of what we are doing to keep things going. The campground of Haramis is part of the growing agritourism economy that links agricultural production to travel by attracting visitors to farms for entertainment.

According to the latest U.S. Census of Agriculture, it is a nearly $1 billion industry.

Industry insiders say agritourism has become increasingly popular in the wake of the pandemic. Demand for camping on private land has increased 470% since 2019, according to Hipcamp, a camping platform similar to AirBNB.

Hipcamp's Global Head of Operations, Sameer Dohadwala, said the concept benefits both campers and hosts in ways that traditional camping can't.

Economic opportunity is the primary benefit for the hosts. In the last year, we put more than $31 million into hosts' pockets, just in the U.S. Dohadwala said. This is an opportunity for many of the hosts to connect with people and share their land, besides the money. Dohadwala anticipates more people will choose to explore the outdoors through agritourism in 2021, as traditional campsites at national and state parks continue to see large crowds and reservations.