With the closure of schools for thousands of families and parents, struggling with daily work, the usual problem arises: how to manage their own children in the summer months. Well: approximately 1,6 million Italian parents aim to enroll their children in one of the summer camps organized in the countryside and in particular the educational farms (Coldiretti/Ixè data):
The experience in educational farms it is an ever-evolving phenomenon growth, as an alternative to summer sports or beach camps. According to ISTAT data updated to 2024, 2.340 agritourism businesses are authorized to provide educational farm services, equal to 8,9% of the total number of facilities. 52,5% of these businesses are located in the North (26,5% in the Northeast), 25,3% in Central Italy, 13,5% in the South, and 8,7% on the Islands.
Compared to 2023, the number of facilities increased by 12,2%: the Northeast and Central Italy showed the most significant increases, +29,8% and +19,3%, respectively; Southern Italy recorded more modest increases.
A sector worth millions of euros and continuing to expand
The phenomenon is increasingly affecting the local area: in 2024, 1.574 municipalities will host at least one educational farm, just under 20% of Italian municipalities and 31,3% of municipalities with at least one agritourism facility.
About 39% of the aagritourism companies with educational farms is managed by women, a share approximately five percentage points higher than that of all managers. The average age of agritourism managers is just over 56, while it drops to 54 in companies with educational farms and to 53 when the management is female.
Compared to 2010, there has been a strong increase in agritourism businesses with educational farms (+220%), of those equipped for observation naturalistic (+141%) and for hiking (+11,2%). Compared to 2010, the supply of activities has decreased mountain bike (-36%), trekking (-7,7%) ed riding (-7,6%).
In Italy, the turnover of educational farms is closely linked to the broader agritourism sector, which exceeds €1,9 billion. More specifically, a small or medium-sized educational farm generates an annual turnover ranging approximately between €30 and €70, depending on its size and offerings.
