½ûÂþÌìÌÃ

Maria Lucia…

It is not that simple. You will have to think about a number of issues before getting started. Apart from the obvious one of deciding where you intend to set up, you will also need do some market research and prepare a business plan of some sorts.

I have seen far too many people put a lot of money into a venture of this kind without really thinking through the core business issues. Much of depends on the type of business you want have but you still need to know your market inside out. This is absolutely crucial.

Location is important and so I would advise you to choose a place that is not already saturated (Tuscany for example, where in the province of Siena alone there is 1 agriturismo for every 6 .5 square Km). You will need to diversify. What makes you different from all the others? Then there is the land of course. You have to take care of it!

Income: It takes on average about three years to build up a good client base and reputation. Will your finances be able to get you through the initial phase?

Costs are important. If you need to hire staff this is going to cost you quite a bit. Other supplies and operating costs need to be considered carefully. You also need to bear in mind that the return on your investment is going to be long-term. Your pricing policy is going to be another important factor. I was once called in by some friends to help them sort out a place near Siena and discovered that their pricing policy was wrong. The prices were too high and customers were too few, despite a great location and facility. The problem my friends faced was too much competition and so people had a lot of alternatives to choose from. It is a very competitive business.

This is just skimming the surface.

To get an idea of tourist flows in each region, if you contact the ½ûÂþÌìÌà Tourist office in London, they can provide you with their report that gives you an idea of what is going on. For more detailed data, you can visit the web sites of some regional authorities. For example, Regione Toscana has a comprehensive set of data on tourism which can be downloaded.

If you need any further info…let me know.

Dear maria,

Location is very important, as the law changes from region to region. According to where you intent to open it you might get grants from the region or the EU.

For piemonte you can look at : [url]http://arianna.consiglioregionale.piemonte.it/arric/servlet/ServTESTI?TIPOVISUAL=HTML&LAYOUT=PRESENTAZIONE&TIPODOC=LEGGI&LEGGE=38&LEGGEANNO=1995[/url]

for the complete text of the law regarding agriturismo. I am sure you can find the law for the other regions.

It is important to know that to be able to call your actvity agriturismo most of the food you will be serving has to be produced by yourself, home grown.
If not you cannot use the label of agriturismo...

Good luck

Paola

[QUOTE=Maria Lucia]Another question for you!

Does anyone know of any up to datish sources of information regarding the requirements for setting up an agriturismo; English (preferably) or ½ûÂþÌìÌÃ. I am a bit confused as to whether it is the majority of your time or your income which must relate to agriculture. Also, having just scared myself silly reading Tony Rocca's book about his experiences, I would like to have a reasonably finite list of people whose requirements I will need to satisfy. e.g. Environmental health, planners, forestries commission, water board, mayor, and psychiatric services (if not now, then probably soon).

Maria Lucia[/QUOTE]
you must according to the region you live in comply with the relevant laws.
be enrolled at the chamber of commerce as a farmer,have the right number of acres of land to do so,agriturismo in most regions is considered complimentary to the primary activity ie. agriculture.You will,whether or not have any income coming in have to pay national insurance and special accident insurance,a vat number,a tax payer,you'll have to work or get worked the land at this difficult moment in time (i mean for agriculture ) in which with dropping prices for most cereal crops and fast reducing EU subsidies it's hard to cultivate a field of grain and break even(i know cos i do it)as far as the activity of agriturismo is concerned ( details vary from region to region) it is subject to all laws concerning health,safety HACCP regulations etc,if you give food to people the percentage of food to be self produced (this varies from region to region but can be from 25% to 70% (this latter in our region over a certain number of eating "places") bed and breakfast is decidedly simpler and is free of all the connotations of growing produce but the problem is inverted ie as in the uk you may not give home made produce,jams,conserves meats to guests without all the appropriate authorizations and health requisites.As an example we produce a certain amount of our own food as an agriturismo however if we did not have an authorized "laboratorio" for the preparation of foods for conservation we would not even be allowed to freeze any of our own produce which we are allowed to do because we have the authorization and a special chill blasting machine which reduces foodstuffs to below zero temperatures in a flash.As charles said one ought to think not once but ten times before going down that road.Ourselves we are considering,that at the end of our first ten years (of which we've done only 5) of converting our enterprise into that of a commercial country hotel/restaurant it would in the light of everything be worth it.....if you want any specific info you can always
send me a pm.-good luck.

Thank you all for the information. It was all supposed to be so simple! "A little light farming", pleasurable company with fine wine and sunshine thrown in as an extra.

I feel better informed but not discoraged.

Maria Lucia