Georgetown: Agro tourism is an innovative agricultural activity related to tourism and agriculture, which has the capacity to create additional sources of income and employment, as well as the ability diversify the tourism product and experience.
This pronouncement was made by the Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority, Mr. Indranauth Haralsingh, as he addressed the Agro Tourism Seminar held yesterday, at the Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC), as part of the Caribbean Week of Agriculture activities in Guyana.
The GTA Director, who was delivering remarks on behalf of the Tourism Minister, Irfaan Ali, acknowledged that Food security is critical for our survival, and noted too that the growing international tourist arrivals will not only create opportunities for destinations but will place additional pressures on them as well.
He explained, “The Caribbean being the most tourist dependent region in the world and whose food importation bill is steadily rising, needs to produce more food locally and also to import from within the region. A tourist will consume at least three meals per day among other activities and there is a great opportunity and need for a food tourism strategy for the region.”
Consequently, the GTA Director pointed to the role of agro tourism in striking the balance between food production, and satisfying the needs of the visitors, who travel to destinations to savor and sample local and indigenous foods.
“Global trends in dining and culinary experience, nutrition, health and wellness, climate change and green economies etc are fuelling growth in agro tourism. Increasingly tourists are seeking genuine experiences linked to local foods, culture and heritage and are willing to pay a premium price. This is a great opportunity for us in the Caribbean,” Mr. Haralsingh said.
Guyana’s Potential
On this note, the GTA Director spoke of Guyana’s “tremendous” potential for the development of agro tourism, including farm based tourism, eco agro-tourism, agro heritage and agro forestry, among others.
Alluding to this potential, he said, “The linkages and partnerships between our farmers and the visitors are strong as our locally produced foods and produce make its way to the menu and delightful meals served to our locals and visitors through our restaurants and hotels. The farm to the table linkage is strong here. Guyana is food secure.”
Mr. Haralsingh highlighted too that in Guyana, the linkages between the food production sector and tourism are high unlike in other CTO member countries.
He used the forum to call on all stakeholders to focus on several key issues as they work towards developing a food strategy, these include; highlighting the opportunities for investment – organic foods, agrotourism attractions, value added products, Investing in training young farmers, knowledge sharing, research and development, providing the Incentives for the tourism industry to procure food locally and intraregionally, and minimizing the impact of farming activities on the environment, among others.
In closing, he revealed plans for the celebration of Tourism Awareness Month (TAM) in November and the hosting of a ‘restaurant week’ to highlight , celebrate and share locally produced food.
The week of activities will include training, standards development, quality initiatives, food safety and presentation, customer service and a mystery shop survey as well, he added.
The GTA Director complimented IICA and CARICOM Secretariat for their work, vision, leadership and commitment to the development of agro tourism in the region.
He said, “Developing a Caribbean – Pacific agro tourism partnership is a great initiative as both regions can share best practices and lessons learned in the promotion and development of agro tourism. I wish the seminar success and I am optimistic that the Caribbean is poised to become the FOODIE destination of the world.The time to invest in agro tourism is NOW.”
During the seminar, presentations were also made by Mr. George Alcee and Ms. Gail Henry, CTO Sustainable Tourism Product Spec
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