Spices and Tourism

Destinations, Attractions and Cuisines

Lee Jolliffe

• Publisher: Channel View Publications
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781845414429
• eBook ISBN: 9781845414450
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Hospitality, Travel & Tourism Industry
• Index: Business

This is the first book to explore the relationship between tourism and spices. It examines the various layers of connection between spices and tourism in terms of destinations, attractions and cuisines. The book reveals how spice-producing destinations are employing spices in destination branding and encouraging spice farms to move towards tourism, while destinations not producing spices are employing spices and herbs in distinctive local cuisines. Both tangible and intangible spice heritages are highlighted as tools for developing destinations, creating attractions, inventing new forms of livelihoods and distinguishing local, regional and national cuisines. This volume will be useful for researchers and students in cultural tourism, culinary tourism, anthropology of food and food history.

Part 1

Spice Destination Studies

2 Spices and Agro-tourism on Grenada, Isle of Spice in the Caribbean

Kimberly Thomas-Francois and Aaron Francois

Grenada, also known as the Spice Isle of the West, is a 133 square miles volcanic island located in the low south of the Caribbean Sea just north (about 90 miles) of Trinidad and Tobago. The lush green tropical island, populated predominantly by descendants from the Africa-Caribbean slave trade, became a world-renowned trader of spices (mainly nutmegs and mace) and cocoa as early as the nineteen century following the abolition of the slave trade. Since the 1980s the Spice Isle had been the second largest nutmeg trader after Indonesia. Per square mile (the island being 133 square miles in total), Grenada has had the largest number of nutmeg trees, even after the devastating impact on the sector by Hurricane Janet in 1955. The nutmeg and other spices sectors, more recently succumbed to two second incidences of major Hurricanes Ivan and Emily in 2004 and 2005, respectively, resulting in the loss of its position as second largest spice trader in the world. However, demand for the island’s spices continues to be high as Grenada is known to produce one of the best quality nutmegs in the world.

Despite the various challenges faced by the nutmeg and spice industry over the decades, the industry remains an engrained feature of the culture and tradition of the Grenadian people. The nutmeg, which became the king spice, was first introduced in Grenada in 1943 from Banda, a small island in the East Indies by Frank Gurney (Brizan, 1979). According to Brizan (1979), during the early years of its cultivation, nutmeg did not make any phenomenal expansion. It was not until 1860, coinciding with the crisis in the West Indian sugar industry and the search for alternative economic crops to replace sugar, that nutmeg was considered a major economic crop for Grenada (Brizan, 1979).

Today, although the nutmeg (Myristica fragrans) has maintained its pre-eminence, many other spices including clove (Syzgium aromaticum), turmeric (Curcuma longa), bayleaf (Pimenta racemosa), ginger (Zingiber officinale), cinnamon (Cinnamomun verum), pimento (Pimenta diotica), black pepper (Piper nigrum), vanilla (Vanilla planifolia) and cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) have been introduced over the years, thus enhancing the island’s national identity and more so its tourism brand as the Spice Isle.

Given such long and rich tradition in the growing of spices, the island’s tourism industry has also seen a corresponding explosion in the uses of spices as part of the destination’s products and services. The spices lend themselves as the piquancy in foods and cuisine, agro-tourism spice hideaways, scenting and ornamental crafts, healing and cosmetic products (such as the nutmeg pain spray and crèmes) and the overall national pride in nutmeg and spices is evident on the island’s national flag and many Grenadian products – the emblem of the spectacular nutmeg symbol.

Figure 2.1 Warm spice welcome at the cruise ship terminal in St George’s

Source: Lee Jolliffe

Undoubtedly, Grenada’s Isle of Spice brand has significantly differentiated the islands from the usual sun, sea and sand neighbouring destinations (see Figure 2.1 which illustrates reinforcement of the spice brand through a warm spice welcome to cruiseship visitors). The ease of branding the destination as the Spice Isle of the Caribbean was innate. As stated by The New Sunday Times (2004) cited in Henderson (2007: 264), all countries can be branded as long as the essence of the nation can be found.

In an effort to assure the global community that Grenada firmly remains a ‘Spicy’ destination when doubts may have circulated following the severe devastation to the spice industry by the two successive major hurricanes in 2004 and 2005, the Government of Grenada, declared the year 2012 as the year of Nutmeg and Spices. The main activities during the year included a massive replanting programme which culminated with the hosting of an inaugural Grenada Nutmeg and Spice Festival. The festival was organized as a multi-sectoral event, which sought to reward and feature key stakeholders in the spice industry and strengthen the national pride and heritage of the spices which would contribute to reinforcing the destinations spice image and brand.

In addition, it is instructive to note that the festival not only occurred the same year when Grenada’s first Olympic gold medal champion Kirani James proudly celebrated the nutmeg on his victory by kissing a nutmeg emblem, but was also coincided with the well-entrenched cruise ship season on the island. Certainly, the concerted efforts to rediscover and relive the nutmeg and spice heritage in Grenada would not only contribute to the authenticity of the tourism experiences, but subscribing to the view of MacDonald and Jolliffe (2003), this sort of heritage tourism is indeed a developmental tool.

This chapter examines the symbiotic relationship with spices and tourism as a tenant of agro-tourism in Grenada. Comparative case studies of agro-tourism experiences and development models are reviewed in the context of the heritage attraction experiences of the agriculture of spices and also the value creation for visitors after the experience. The cases of Belmont Estate, the Dougaldston Spice Estate and the La Grenade Industries are assessed. These cases were selected based on our foreknowledge of the businesses involvement in agro-tourism and international recognition of same.

Qualitative research methods were employed to gather data for the case studies presented. The main data collection instrument utilized was a semi-structured in depth interview which was conducted with the owners–managers. This type of interview allowed interviewees to be questioned systematically and in a consistent order but also allowing them the freedom to discuss further beyond the scope of the questions posed and as relevant to their business model (Berg & Lune, 2012). This in-depth interview also allowed interviewers whenever necessary to probe for more details from the interviewees. The interviews were supplemented with other secondary data and information packages provided by the owner managers which included business plans and other business records, promotional literature on the businesses, and business project documents.

Understanding Agro-Tourism

The terms agri-tourism and agro-tourism are used synonymously in the literature. Sznajder et al. (2009) explained, however, that agri-tourism implies a style of vacation that is normally spent on farms, whereas agro-tourism denotes the management of an agricultural estate. The term tourism on the other hand is a form of active recreation away from one’s place of residence. The conflicting views in the literature are similarly problematic when attempting to define agro-tourism. For consistency in this chapter, agro-tourism is used to generalize all related tourism activities occurring on farms and likewise the use of agricultural product for adding value to the tourism industry.

Phillip et al. (2010) reviewed several definitions in the literature to derive a typology for defining agro-tourism by identifying key characteristics. Phillip et al. (2010) therefore categorized the concept of agro-tourism into five types: non-working farm (NFW agro-tourism), for example, accommodation in ex-farm house property; working farm indirect contact (WFIC agro-tourism), for example farm produce served in tourist meals; working farm, director contact (WFDC agro-tourism) for example staged agro-tourism such as farming demonstrations; and working farm, direct contact authentic (WFDCA agro-tourism) that is visitors’ participation in farm tasks.

In the context of the Caribbean, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) acknowledges a working definition of agro-tourism as ‘any activity, enterprise or business that links agriculture with products, services and experiences in tourism’ (IICA, 2006: 3). It recognizes six dimensions of agro-tourism, specifically including farm-based and agro-ecotourism, community tourism, health and wellness tourism, culinary tourism, agro-heritage tourism (forward linkages) and agro-trade (backward linkages).

Nonetheless, agro-tourism has been recognized as a means of sustainable tourism (Sims, 2009) and a precursor for sustainable rural development (Akpinar et al., 2005; Choo & Jamal, 2009). Theorists have therefore identified a myriad of agro-tourism benefits over decades. Some of the benefits identified are conservation of cultural heritage, preservation of family farms and communities, protection of cultural identity linked to agriculture, recycling of monies in the local economy (multiplier effect from tourism) and conservation of landscape and ecosystems (Choo & Jamal, 2009).

The following case studies include several dimensions of agro-tourism outlined in the literature. In addition, they illustrate how agro-tourism became fundamental to Grenada’s spice industry and economy and vice versa.

Belmont Estate – Case Study

History of spices on the plantation

The 17th century plantation located in Belmont, St Patrick has positioned itself as one of the Caribbean’s finest agro-tourism experiences and has been recognized locally and throughout the Caribbean for its best practices in agro-tourism development. The highly diversified agricultural and tourism product, was first a plantation estate obtained by an East Indian couple in 1944. The plantation was then operated as a major producer and trader of nutmeg and other spices but also cocoa and banana, the main export crops of the plantation era. Prior to the acquisition of the estate by the East Indians, in the late 1600s and early 1700s, the Belmont Estate was one of the 81 plantations established on the island with coffee being its major produce. Later in the late 1700s sugarcane was introduced.

Belmont Estate’s connection with spices dates back over 200 years to the early 1800s when British merchants in the West Indies went to assist the East Indies to set up sugar processing and brought back nutmeg seeds to Grenada. Consistent with the period, the late 1800s, when the nutmeg was introduced to Grenada nationally, these crops thrived on the estates and became the estate’s pinnacle, producing over 100,000 lbs of nutmeg annually placing it among the leading producers on island.

Currently, the 400-acre Estate of agricultural lands has allocated 150 acres to the production of spices including nutmeg, cinnamon, bay leaves, cloves, ginger and turmeric. The spices are not planted in pure stand but are intercropped with other fruits, vegetables and forest trees. The estate also remained a primary producer of cocoa with a 150 acres of cocoa established for the export market but also intricately linked to the agro-tourism business model with regards to chocolate making.

Agro-tourism business model

The Belmont Estate, which is owned and operated by the grand-daughter of the East Indian migrants, a lawyer by profession, provides a diversified and authentic experience of agro-tourism for its visitors. The demise of plantation economy left most estates unprofitable including the devastating impacts of hurricane Janet in 1955 and later in 2004 and 2005 hurricanes Ivan and Emily respectively. The diversification efforts into the estate becoming an agro-tourism product started in 2002. The repositioning efforts included the preservation of the rich history of plantation life and the introduction of sustainable practices including fostering the development of an organic farm and the promotion of local foods in cuisine served at the restaurant.

The agro-tourism product development included the business entity offering tourist visits to a certified organic farm which includes spices, horticultural gardens, heritage museum, cocoa processing facilities, a goat dairy farm with demonstration of goat cheese production, petting farm, gift shop with locally produced craft, cultural entertainment, and a creole restaurant which uses local food and spices and epitomizing slow food cooked on traditional coal pots.

Business visitors have the opportunity of using the conference facilities while locals and visitors are invited to host their weddings at the attraction. Cultural entertainment and community activities festivals are also known features of the product. Some festivals hosted on the estate include Indian Arrival Day, African Heritage Day, Rhythms and Flavours which features ethnic foods (Nyack, 2009: 58 cited in Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries 2009) and more recently the culmination of the Nutmeg and Spice Festival, which included an award dinner for the farmers of nutmeg and other spices. The estate is also involved in the trading of nutmegs for export and fruits and vegetables to hotels and restaurants in the local market.

Thousands of stay-over and cruise ship tourists traverse the property annually as it is one of the ‘must visit’ destination attractions on island. The estate’s financial records show that the tourism component of the business model comprising the restaurant and tours accounted for 70% of total in...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Copyright
• Contents
• Contributors
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Part 1: Spice Destination Studies
• Part 2: Spice Attraction Studies
• Part 3: Spice Product Studies
• Conclusion
• Index