Farming and tourism are tough industries to thrive in but one family in the far north of New South Wales has successfully run a productive tropical fruit farm as a holiday attraction for 30 years.

Just south of the Queensland border, Tropical Fruit World opened its doors in 1983 as Avocado Land.

It was the brainchild of Bob Brinsmead and his wife Valerie who bought the land in the early 1970s.

Originally a government fruit research station boasting a few avocado trees, the couple kept planting more until they were producing at a commercial level.

"We just loved avocados, the whole family was addicted to avocados," Mr Brinsmead said.

"Wasn't long before we had about 3,000 avocado trees but then we wanted more than avocados."

Over the next decade Mr Brinsmead started growing every tropical fruit imaginable. There are now more than 500 different types of fruit growing in his orchard.

"I must say not every type of fruit we brought here and trialled ended up being a sensation," he said.

"Some of them proved to be great garden fruits to grow in the home garden that you could never commercialise."

Tropical fruit farm opens to tourists

By this stage, people throughout the region were talking about the weird and wonderful fruits being grown on the Brinsmeads' farm, so they decided to open the 71-hectare property to day visitors.

Now known as Tropical Fruit World, an average of 1,400 people tour the farm every week on specially modified tractors and there are 34 staff employed.

One of Mr Brinsmead's daughters, Judy, is the managing director and has helped turn the property into a thriving tourist attraction.

"We really wanted to stay as farmers," Ms Brinsmead said.

"So I've increased the farming capacity and moved it from a farm and diversified so it becomes financially stable."

"The farm brings in directly about 10 per cent of the revenue, but if I look at the total support base that the farm brings in as a whole of business it's about 90 per cent," she said.

"10 per cent of that is retailing the produce to tourists on the property and another 30 per cent is value-adding in products."

But while the tourists continue to roll through, research and growing of tropical fruit remain at the heart of the operation.

Dragon fruit gaining popularity in Australia

At 80 years of age, Mr Brinsmead is focusing on how to improve dragon fruit production.

Native to South America, and commonly consumed in Vietnam, he believes the crazy looking cactus-borne fruit is one of the most promising newcomers to the Australian market.

He is trialling 20 different varieties and trying to produce a line of dragon fruit with fewer spines and prickles, to make it easier to harvest.

The fruit has caught the eye of local Kingscliff chef Steven Snow.

Bob Brinsmead is trialling 20 different varieties of dragon fruit, hoping to find one with fewer spines and prickles. ( ABC News: Megan Woodward )

"People come in and they try something in a restaurant and then they go wow, that was cool," Mr Snow said.

"Then in time it filters its way through recipes and in books and after that the whole populace grabs it and it's still exotic but it's available."

The enthusiasm is music to Mr Brinsmead’s ears, as his love for fruit continues to inspire others.

That includes his children and their children, who all want to keep his vision alive and thriving.

"I regaled them with tales of all the spectacular kinds of fruit we could dream of and collect and end up growing here," Mr Brinsmead said.

"So ultimately, they had a great interest in it."

For the full story, tune in to Landline at noon on Sunday on ABC1.