---

Designing for school field trips

Designing agritourism farms for customer flow and efficient operations can be even more complex when the farm serves a mix of visit types in addition to general public admissions to festival-type events.

Many farms offer school field trips during the week. Some farms offer them only on days when the farm is closed to the public, while others run school field trips on the same days the public is there. In both cases, it is important to ensure the layout accommodates the unique needs of school field trips. If the field trips occur at the same time the public is there, it is important to zone the field trip activities so they do not diminish the general public's enjoyment.

On some farms our company consulted with, we initially observed disorganized and dangerous field trip operations. On the farm shown below, which ran high volumes of field trips, multiple buses of children were unloaded in the middle of the parking area, and the hay wagon was driven through the parking area, where children were standing to be picked up. It was a perfect setup for a serious accident. Our work consisted of designing a separate, safe school bus loading and unloading area outside the parking area, safe hay wagon loading, and other areas to accommodate the field trips' unique needs.

Designing for school field trips requires understanding all the requirements and the flow of activities. For example, if the children are bringing their own lunches, there needs to be provision to store them shortly after unloading from the bus.

Like all aspects of agritourism facility design, the devil is in the details. To make visits as enjoyable as possible and to ensure efficient operations, attention to detail is essential.

Subscribe to Agritourism Today

---