Dr. Lisa Chase, a University of Vermont (UVM) Extension agritourism specialist, has been selected as the first chair of the Global Agritourism Network (GAN), a newly founded network of agritourism professionals from around the world.
Chase, who is based in the UVM Extension Brattleboro office, also serves as the director of the Vermont Tourism Research Center, a role encompassing agricultural and culinary tourism, recreation on public and private woodlands, and sustainable food systems, among other areas. She was instrumental in bringing the International Workshop on Agritourism to Vermont in 2022, a global conference hosted by UVM Extension in collaboration with Eurac Research, a private research center in Italy.
GAN developed as an outcome of that conference to enhance the capacity of agritourism worldwide. Stakeholders include:
- Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural producers.
- Researchers.
- Educators.
- Community planners.
- Government entities.
- Agricultural service providers.
- Development organizations.
- Tour and hospitality operators.
The network will officially launch on April 11, 2023 with a free Zoom meeting, beginning at 10 a.m. EDT. Agritourism professionals interested in attending may register at https://go.uvm.edu/gan. If requiring a disability-related accommodation to participate, contact Lisa Flinn at (802) 656-7607 or lisa.flinn@uvm.edu by March 28.
Chase will moderate the session, which will offer an overview of GAN followed by breakout sessions for committees on promotion and funds, research, definitions and standards for agritourism, sustainable and regenerative agritourism, policy and advocacy, conferences, webinars, communications and awards.
To learn more about GAN, visit https://agritourism.eurac.edu/gan.