Documentation and Acknowledgement

We know that as new tourism products are developed and sustained, scholars, policy makers and practitioners seek to document lessons learnt and good operating practices that have been most effective in producing the best results.

These success stories are generally referred to as best or good practices and are often capable of being replicated.

Our research shows that while best practices in agro tourism have been documented and acknowledged internationally, here in the Caribbean, where this niche market is only now beginning to find its focus, there is little formal documentation.

This situation is changing, however, as the agro tourism momentum builds. Organizations such as IICA, the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), the Toledo Ecotourism Association (TEA) and the Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE) in Belize and the Travel Foundation UK in Tobago have begun to establish criteria and provide awards for best practices in sustainable tourism development.

The Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) has also published a handbook on good practices in Community-based tourism in the Caribbean. The book is freely available online at www.onecaribbean.org  .

Enjoy our feature of a few of the experiences globally and in the Caribbean that have been recognized as examples of best or good practices in agro tourism. The list is merely indicative and will continue to be updated.