Barbados Agro-tourism Inventory Report

72 Pages·2006·1.25 MB·English

Barbados Agro-tourism
Inventory Report
DEVELOPING AN INVENTORY ON THE STATUS OF AGRO-
TOURISM LINKAGES AND AVAILABILITY OF RESOURCES TO
SUPPORT THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF LINKAGES
(BARBADOS)

Submitted by
Roxanne Waithe
Consultant

May/June 2006
Final Report

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#94 Hibiscus House
4th Avenue Woodbourne Park
St. Philip, Barbados (BB18047)
Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone]
Email: [email protected]
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
Executive Summary iii
Introduction 1
Part I: What is Agro-tourism? 3
1.1 Dimensions of Agro-tourism 3
1.2 Definitions and Categories 5
1.3 Previous Studies on Agro-tourism in Barbados 8
1.4 The Inventory Process 10
Part II: Inventory of Agro-tourism Products & Experiences 13
2.1 Agro-Trade 13
2.2 Farm Based & Agro-Ecotourism 19
2.3 Community Tourism 25
2.4 Health and Wellness Tourism 28
2.5 Culinary Tourism 31
2.6 Agro-Heritage Tourism 35
Part III: Emerging Implications and Opportunities 39
3.1 Emerging Implications 39
3.2 Potential Opportunities for Linkages 45

i
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
1 Proposed Projects for Barbados Scotland District 23
2 Community Tourism Inventory 25

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure
1 Dimensions of Agro-Tourism 3
2 No. of Agro-tourism Agencies by Category 11
3 Agro-Trade Responses by Type of Venture 15
4 Farm-based and Agro-Ecotourism Responses by Activity 20
5 Problems Encountered – Farm Based &Agro-Ecotourism 21
6 Restaurant Respondents by Type of Cuisine Served 32
7 Agro-Heritage Respondents by Activity Type 36
8 Problems Encountered – Agro-Heritage 36
9 Agro-Tourism Activities Classification Matrix 39
10 Agro-Tourism Agents 41

APPENDICES
Appendix
1 Resource Directory 49
2 Survey Instrument 61
3 Inventory of Agro-Trade Agencies 63
4 Farm based and Agro-Ecotourism Inventory 64
5 Health & Wellness Tourism Inventory 65
6 Culinary Respondents 65
7 List of Suppliers Identified 66
ii
Executive Summary
The IICA Agro-Tourism Linkages Centre is challenged with the task of developing links
between agriculture and tourism. The current status of these linkages needs to be clearly
defined. This situation has inspired the current research which aims to find out what type
of agro-tourism resources are available in Barbados and the nature of the relationship
amongst the agencies involved. The final product of this exercise is an agro-tourism
inventory.
The research was conducted over a four week period and after consultation of prior work
conducted by the IICA representative for Barbados, six categories of agro-tourism were
defined:
1. Agro-Trade
2. Farm Based & Agro-Ecotourism
3. Community Tourism
4. Health and Wellness Tourism
5. Culinary Tourism
6. Agro-Heritage Tourism
A survey was used to find out what types of agro-tourism activities occurred in Barbados,
who was involved and what were some of the challenges they faced. The major findings
were that:
- Barbados offers some diversity in terms of its agro-tourism activities
- Most agro-tourism enterprises are operated by private sector agencies
- Current agro-tourism products, services and activities are marketed to both
visitors and locals
iii
- Businesses involved in agro-tourism faced some challenges such as access
to financing, inaccessible roads, poor signage and finding skilled
employees
Some recommendations were made for future endeavours:
(cid:190) Development of an agro-tourism awareness campaign to boost local interest and
involvement in agro-tourism

(cid:190) Design of a training program to meet the specific needs of the small farmers,
artisans and other agencies involved in agro-tourism

(cid:190) Publishing of a catalogue of local farmers for distribution to hotels and restaurants
This is only a first phase in the development of agro-tourism linkages. What steps can
IICA take to create and maintain productive relationships between tourism related and
agriculture based agencies? This is a critical question, but for now the challenge is to act
on the new information presented in this report.

iv
INTRODUCTION

Agro-tourism is regarded as an opportunity to strengthen the tourism sector through the
development of linkages with the agricultural sector. For that reason the Inter-American
Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture (IICA), the Organisation of American States
(OAS) and the Government of Barbados have formed a partnership to develop a project
that will encourage more linkages between the agricultural and tourism sectors.

As a preliminary measure it is necessary to develop an inventory on the status of agro-
tourism linkages and availability of resources to support the sustainable development of
linkages. This has led to the current research and report which identifies agro-tourism
products, services and experiences in Barbados, and presents a framework for defining
agro-tourism in other Caribbean countries.

The objective of the project as defined in the Terms of Reference was to develop an
inventory on the status of agro-tourism linkages and availability of resources to support
the sustainable development of linkages in Barbados. Specifically, the research was
intended to:
i. Identify community groups (NGOs, CBOs, CSOs) and entrepreneurs
involved in agro-tourism
ii. Determine the status of linkage with the tourism sector
iii. Identify agro-tourism development possibilities and training needs
iv. Identify potential training resources and potential sites for training
exchanges

Several key questions were implied in the terms of reference and each of them was
treated as a specific research goal to be attained from this project:

Goal 1: Which endeavours in Barbados can be classified as agro-tourism?
Goal 2: Who is doing it?
1
Goal 3: What are the characteristics of these businesses?
Goal 4: What is working well and what areas can be improved?
Goal 5: What are some of the training needs in agro-tourism and what resources
do we have to fulfil them?

The results of the project are presented in this report which is divided into three sections.
Part one explores dimensions and categories of agro-tourism and proposes definitions for
the same. It also examines previous reports and studies on agro-tourism in Barbados. The
chapter ends with a description of the methods used to collect the data for this report and
to compile the agro-tourism inventory.
Part two consists of six segments, each dealing with one of the categories of agro-
tourism. For each segment, the findings of the research will be discussed with reference
to key research objectives:
1. Defining the nature of the product/service mix
2. Identifying agencies involved
3. Describing significant trends and observations
4. Identifying potential development possibilities
In the last section of the report, the major trends and observations are examined
particularly those issues and challenges faced by participating agencies. This discussion
is followed by an analysis of potential opportunities for linkages between agriculture and
tourism in Barbados based on the research findings, and the text concludes with some
recommendations for future endeavours in local agro-tourism.

2
PART I
WHAT IS AGRO-TOURISM?

The Agro-Tourism Linkages Centre based at the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation
on Agriculture (IICA) in Barbados has as its mission”….To support the development of
agro-tourism linkages”. However, the project at hand brought into focus the fundamental
question: What is agro-tourism?

This chapter explores the meaning of agro-tourism from a Caribbean perspective and
helps to place this research into the proper context with clear definitions.

1.1 Dimensions of Agro-tourism
In point of fact, the IICA representative1 for Barbados has identified specific dimensions
of Agro-Tourism linkages as seen in Figure 1:

Figure 1: Dimensions of Agro-tourism

Based on these classifications, a working definition of agrotourism was developed for the
purpose of the research:

Agrotourism refers to any activity, enterprise or business that links
agriculture with products, services and experiences in tourism.

1 Ena C. Harvey, Presentation at 7th Annual Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development
“Keeping the Right Balance – Sustainable Tourism Through Diversity” April 28, 2005, Tobago
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The need to account for existing and potential products, services and experiences in
Barbados in each of the categories (dimensions) prescribed by IICA called for further
clarification, definition and classification of agro-tourism activities.

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