Sicily has been considered as one of the poorest regions of Italy for the last century. Most of people here are engaged in agriculture. What concerns tourism it has been developed in the resorts of the coastline for a long time. Now they have started to develop agro tourism on Sicily, which is going to be one of the prestigious branches of economics in the nearest future. That means that the economics of Sicily is going to be stronger.
Agro tourism has become popular for the last 50 years. The Sicilians understand that their ancient and fertile motherland can be very interesting for tourists from different places of the world. Sicilian cuisine is one of the most attractive features which help tourists choose Sicily for their holidays. It is a traditional peasant household which is the best place to enjoy charm and fascination of the hot Sicilian summer.
Agro tourism has started to develop in Italy lately. The Law of the Development of Agro tourism on Sicily was adopted in 1985. Since then the number of agro tourists has grown three times. Now Sicily is the third after Toscana and Umbria according to the number of tourists.
Agro tourism on Sicily can be divided into “natural”, “food” and “sport” groups. Each peasant household can suggest one of these kinds of holidays. If you choose “natural” agro tourism you can enjoy the beauty of the nature and take part in vintage and orange gathering. “Food” suggests that the host and the hostess of the country place will teach you how to cook traditional Sicilian dishes. “Sport” tourism means that you will enjoy country landscape and ride a bicycle, a horse or go for long walks to the valleys and fields of Sicily.
Country estates on Sicily are different. If it is a 2-3 star household, it will cost 10 Euros per day and more. If it is a 5 star household, the cost of it will be from 30 Euros per day. The cost depends on the season of the year. Most of the households take children under three free of charge, for children of 3-12 they give a reduction of 20%. The most popular provinces among agro tourists are Catania, Ragusa, Palermo and Syracuse.
