Powys is Wales' top spot for on-farm holidays, according to a sustainable living business.

The study by the Bower Collective, called the Agritourism Index, analysed a number of farm stays, farm shops, country shows, events and local walking routes – and concluded that Powys is Wales’ best agritourism destination.

The study sites Powys has having the UK’s third richest selection of working farm stay locations, with over 104 to choose from.

The study also analyses counties’ sustainability for an authentic rural getaway via activities such as country shows, events and hiking trails, and ranked Powys highly in that regard.

It ranked Powys as the seventh best county in the UK when it comes to rural shows and events.

It was the combination of farm stays and events that allowed Powys to grab the top spot as the overall best agritourism destination in Wales.

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However, despite Wales' reputation as a hotbed of both farming and of tourism, the Powys was only ranked 15th in the UK, with Devon, North Yorkshire and Cumbria considered the three agritourism hotspots.

But whether the study is necessarily the ideal guide to Welsh farming holidays may be open to question – as the list of Wales' top destinations distributed by the company includes Bedfordshire, in south eastern England.

Powys was followed by Gwynedd and Pembrokeshire, which were placed second and third in Wales by the study.

Devon and Cornwall finished ahead of Powys as the best counties for farm stays in the whole of the UK, with Devon achieving a top 10 finish in every category, making it the index’s choice for best agritourism destination in the UK.

The global agritourism market is expected to grow by 13 percent over the next six years.

In the UK, the office of national statistics already suggests that around one in ten rural businesses are tourist related and 15 percent of total rural employment is in the tourism sector.

It is estimated that Brits make around 358 million day trips to the countryside every year, which is expected to increase with many still reeling from the adventure-deprived past two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.

The full study by the Bower Collective can be found here; https://bowercollective.com/pages/best-places-for-a-rural-getaway