The Šenk Farm

The farm is run by young couple with help of multi-generational family. Few years ago, both of them left their good jobs to begin developing tourism on the farm. They wanted to take advantage of the extraordinary potential that the farm has as a protected cultural monument and a unique natural environment. To obtain sufficient financial resources, they sold some farm land and applied for RDP funds. They had some support of advisory service but most of the work had to be done on their own. This was the most difficult period of the revival process since there was no regular family income and the family was dependent on their savings. The renewal period took longer than they planed so if there hadn’t been  clear vision and goals about the farm´s future, it would be impossible to succeed. First few years after the start of agritourism, the main issue was how to attract guests. It took  few years before they achieved satisfactory results. At current point of business development, the main concern is developing the relevant contents for tourist to offer and determining roles and responsibilities for family members. During the whole process of establishing a successful family business, they had to learn a lot. They had no experience in project management, construction engineering or tourism management and they were gaining entrepreneurial skills by solving problems. They claim that they had support of institutions and local authorities but the job had to be done by the family. Fortunately the family members are very connected, hardworking, focused, persistent and willing to learn. In the end, the effort paid off. Now they are sure that they made the right decision and that the agritourism based on unique environment and cultural values has a great potential. They see also many followers in their neighborhood who choose similar paths for developing and preserving their farms.  They are also ready to share and explain their experience to those who are at the start of the same process of establishing agritourism business. Such exchanges and meetings are organized by various organizations; association of tourist farms, rural women associations, tourist associations, advisory services, development agencies ... They also noticed increased public attention, which is dedicated to preserving and protecting of agricultural landscapes. It is also very important for people to have possibility to make  exchange of experiences on the subject with different people outside the local environment.