In the Caribbean, we have seen the steady decline of our traditional agricultural crops through the loss of trade preferences from our traditional European markets. At the same time, Tourism has rapidly become the economic driver for many countries. This has led to a different, perhaps broader, view of Agro Tourism.

When we examine a 2007 study by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), they suggest that the recent promotion of agriculture tourism linkages is an attempt to enhance the local value added of the tourism industry, while at the same time promoting the development of domestic agriculture.

Click for  - Caribbean tourism and agriculture: linking to enhance development and competitiveness (PDF - 341kb)

One other researcher tells us that Agro Tourism in our Caribbean region is “any activity, enterprise or business that links agriculture with products, services and experiences in tourism”
Roxanne Waithe – Barbados Agrotourism Inventory Report  (PDF - 4.9mb).

We are of the view that the first clear distinction made between agro-tourism in the Caribbean and the rest of the world appeared in a report of a workshop on Agro Tourism held in Tobago in 2000:

“…it became evident that not all the participants who came from throughout the region and as far afield as New Zealand, perceived “agro-tourism” in the same way. Agro-tourism projects are those that take the tourist to see and to be involved with agricultural activities such as touring the coffee estates in Costa Rica. But, in the small island economies of the Caribbean, it is impossible to discuss agriculture and tourism without also ensuring that agriculture meets the needs of the hospitality industry particularly in the supply of locally-produced, rather than imported food. ”

( from article entitled “Developing Agro-tourism in the Caribbean”, quoted in Carolyn Hayle, et al.)

This statement may support our need to define and redefine tourism to reflect the reality of the specific country. Jamaica, for example, has worked out its own definition of agro tourism as “the repositioning of the agricultural sector to maximize the integration of indigenous food, culture, wellness and the environment into a sustainable tourism experience. It involves the strategic utilization of the tourism system to reposition Jamaica as a healthy lifestyle destination based on value-added products (raw, minimal and end process) derived from inputs from its unique biodiversity (terrestrial and marine), strategic clustering of the supply chain and empowerment of the micro-enterprise sector in both the agriculture and tourism sectors”. (IICA JAMAICA agro tourism flyer and Carolyn Hayle paper)