From popularity to closure, why are fewer and fewer people going to the farmhouse?

Recently, a video has sparked heated discussions on the Internet, and a video of the UP master of station B shows that in recent years, nearly 80,000 farmhouses that were once popular across the country have closed down. According to the data of Qichacha, as of November 2023, more than 7,000 farmhouse enterprises have been cancelled.

As the related news shows, the farmhouse that was once popular all over the country may be ushering in a declining situation.

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A once popular farmhouse

In fact, when it comes to farmhouses, I believe everyone is familiar with them.

This is a form of leisure agriculture that takes farmhouse catering as the main content and integrates farmhouse meals and agricultural products. Consumers go to the farmhouse, on the one hand, they can eat farmhouse dishes and farm products, and on the other hand, they can also feel a certain pastoral scenery and farm environment.

The early farmhouse originated near Chengdu, Sichuan Province in the basin. Nearby suburban counties such as Pixian, Wenjiang, Shuangliu, Longquan and other places, as well as Dujiangyan, Qingcheng Mountain and Emei Mountain and other scenic spots, have appeared similar forms of farmhouses.

People come to the nearby scenic spots to enjoy the flowers, view the scenery, go to the mountains and climb the mountains, and after they are tired of playing, they look for nearby farmhouses to rest and eat and play mahjong.

According to media reports, in 2020, there were still more than 190,000 registered farmhouse enterprises, of which Sichuan Province had the most. Others, such as Hubei, Chongqing, Shaanxi, Guizhou and other places, also have more than 10,000 farmhouses.

In terms of development time, from the 90s to the first decade of this century, farmhouse entertainment was a prosperous era, and it basically became a very popular way to play and eat for short distances. Subsequently, more practitioners entered the industry, and the industry gradually entered the peak of the number and turned into a downward channel.

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Why farmhouses are no longer affected

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In recent years, farmhouses have begun to become fewer, almost visibly reduced in the consumer's field of vision. The reasons come from many sources.

First of all, I am afraid that the price is high and the quality is low. It is not difficult to see from the comments and feedback of some netizens that the farmhouse meal that was once thought to be twenty or thirty yuan has now been fried to seventy or eighty yuan a piece, and a farmhouse meal costs hundreds of dollars, and the price is comparable to that of a high-end restaurant in the city. This kind of consumption shocked consumers who originally thought that the farmhouse was a cost-effective reflection, and then they didn't want to come again.

At the same time, there are many farmhouses, which are only opened in relatively deserted places in the name of farmhouses, and in fact they are neither farmhouses nor any agricultural observation at all. However, there are doubts about whether some of the ingredients that claim to be farmhouse dishes come from authentic farmhouses and whether they are treated with good hygiene.

Of course, what is more important is the change in the mentality and consumption needs of young consumers. As something that originated in the 90s, farmhouses have ushered in a generational shift in consumers.

For the new generation of mainstream consumers born in the 90s and 00s, farmhouses do not have the same inheritance and loyalty as cinemas and other things, and they are not so familiar with farmhouses, but regard them more as an old thing. Young people are more enthusiastic about the current way of playing that is both fashionable and fresh.

Some new forms of business are currently blossoming in the suburbs of the city with lightning speed.

Guesthouses or hot springs with meals, tea brewing around the hearth in small courtyards, and accommodation and meals along with temple pilgrimages have all become popular among young people. And some young people who like to hike, climb or camp also like to bring their own tents, various cooking tools and ingredients, etc., and make a delicious meal in the wild.

The old model is superimposed on factors such as low cost performance, so that the farmhouse under the impact of the new form has gradually become unfavored, and has evolved into one of the many choices of young people. Under the fierce competition, many poorly managed farmhouses had to be passively closed.

The future of the farmhouse

So in the future, will the farmhouse still exist, and where will it go?

On the one hand, it is necessary to face up to the impact from all sides, see the decline of traditional farmhouses, and re-examine the market situation. On the other hand, it should also be noted that under the promotion of national strategies such as rural revitalization, there is still room for development of farmhouses linked to rural areas, agricultural products, green mountains and clear waters.

From the general direction of rural revitalization, the flow of consumers into the countryside will not decrease, and will even become more. At the same time, the development model of cultural tourism is actually broadening the business idea of "traditional farmhouse".

In commercial practice, many cultural and tourism real estate companies are actively developing leisure and cultural tourism resorts integrating parent-child, agriculture, and ancient towns.

These resorts that integrate ancient architecture, ecological agriculture, folk art, and traditional food meet the needs of a family for short-distance travel, and to a certain extent, replace and expand the integrated form of catering, food and accommodation of traditional farmhouses, and are more fashionable, clean and modern, and are popular with young people. This three-dimensional and ecological construction mode is actually the direction that traditional farmhouses should seriously think about.

In addition, farms in Taiwan, for example, are an ecological model that integrates forests, pastures or hot springs. Some of these farms are based on lavender as the theme, providing consumers with boundless flowers and leisure accommodation, and some are themed on ecological farming, so that they can not only eat the most authentic creative dishes, but also observe the construction and breeding process of the entire farm at close range, providing tourists with a complete leisure consumption experience.

Therefore, it is not difficult to find that in the future, the farmhouse will only be based on farm dishes and farm products, and the low-quality and high-price customer stealing model will also need to be changed urgently. Referring to the ecological model of cultural tourism or new farms, it seems to be the general trend to rebuild infrastructure construction, refine tasting themes, and improve the experience of tourists.

In addition, the new type of farmhouse also needs to start from its own geographical location, rural characteristics, folk art, etc., and use marketing theories such as positioning and UPS selling points to create a differentiated theme style. In addition, creative concepts and modern elements should be continuously incorporated to provide more technological and convenient accommodation and dining conditions to create a competitive advantage.

In the future, with the overall structural upgrading of the rural economy, "from traditional to modern, from local to trendy", it may be the future of farmhouse entertainment in the form of a more advanced and integrated economic carrier.

Wild talk in the world

Editor-in-charge: Liu Yunshan