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University of Florida

Agritourism in Croatia and the U.S.


UF Faculty: Misti Sharp
Department: Food and Resource Economics Department
College: College of Agricultural and Life Sciences

Partner Faculty: Marija Cerjak
Department: Department of Marketing in Agriculture
Partner Institution: University of Zagreb
Title: Agritourism in Croatia and the United States
Project Description: Students in the US and Croatia will learn about agritourism in each setting, comparing and contrasting the types of agritourism operations, the role of agritourism in society, and agricultural systems. Students will collaborate on agricultural tourism factsheets and case studies. Through this virtual exchange, students will get experience communicating and collaborating with people from other cultures to better understand their own cultures and ways of doing things.
Learning Outcomes:
  • Compare rural tourism in the US and Croatia.
  • Apply marketing techniques for use by rural tourism operators.
  • Assess a rural tourism operation in terms of its offering.
  • Compare Floridian agriculture to Croatian agriculture in terms of technology, size, and resiliency.
  • Create business possibilities in rural areas (maintenance of a rural way of life).
  • Articulate the impacts of globalization on rural areas.
  • Discuss agricultural policies and their impacts on rural areas.
  • Reflect on previous assumptions about US and Croatian systems.
  • Discuss the marketing of rural tourism.
  • Increase intercultural communication proficiency.
  • Gain proficiency with digital communication and collaboration.
Participating Countries: Croatia
Number of Participants: 11 UF students; 15 University of Zagreb students
Discipline: Agriculture and Life Sciences
UF Course Code & Name: IDS2935 - Agritourism and Food Systems
Project Duration: 6 weeks
Activity Type(s):
  • Student-to-Student Dialogue
  • Student-to-Student Project
Technology Tools:
  • Zoom
  • Canva
  • Google Suite (slides, docs, etc.)
  • GoPro Quik (to produce .mp4 files)
  • Flipgrid
Sequence of Activities:
  • Icebreaker: Use Flipgrid to provide an image of a typical meal and discuss why this is the go-to meal for the student. In another post, introduce yourself, your background, and your interest in the topic.

  • Engagement Activity: Four Zoom sessions where students meet and discuss, either altogether or in a small group, Agriculture, Culture, and Agritourism in Croatia and the United States. Students work together to develop situation analyses for farms in their respective countries and share those results with the paired team from another country.

  • Collaboration Activity: Students work in small groups of ~3 UF students and ~3 University of Zagreb students to develop a situation analysis of a farm in their respective countries that describes the following components:
    • Situation analysis of the farm – Region, offerings (services), products, culture, ecological context of region, general information about agritourism.
    • Interview of farmer or insights into the farmer (if available) regarding agritourism offering and resources available to farmer.
    • Vision, mission, etc. of farm (ideals/goals).
    • SWOT analysis (matrix).
    • Methods and data sources.

      In the same small groups, looking at the same farm as the situation analysis, create a marketing plan to protect cultural heritage and agriculture (“traditional is in” initiative). Students present the marketing plans in small groups in breakout rooms and gather feedback for the joint session where everyone briefly describes their marketing plan and how it helps the farm and provides cultural preservation.

  • Reflection Activity: In 200-500 words, summarize what you learned about Croatian agritourism in Session X. Compare and contrast their farm and your farm. Connect what they presented with what we have been learning in this class all semester.