Linkages between tourist resorts, local food production and the sustainable development goals

Abstract

The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), ratified in 2015, are set to guide global development through to 2030. As an industry, tourism receives considerable attention in development discussions and in planning for development in the Global South, particularly in small island developing states (SIDS). A number of authors see particular prospects in the area of food producer linkages with the tourism industry, based on the notion that it should be possible to enhance both local food systems and tourism industries in SIDS by putting more local food on the menu. In this article, we test the assumption that building strong linkages between tourism and food production systems, especially agriculture and fisheries, is possible, and desirable, and would lead to more sustainable development. We do this by drawing on data from research in hotel kitchens and on farms in the South Pacific country of Fiji. When reflecting on the Fijian data in light of SDGs 2, 12 and 14, it is apparent that there are considerable constraints to developing food-tourism linkages in a way that will deliver more sustainable development in future. While ‘island night’ menus do use a lot of local produce, and small numbers of guests enjoy consuming Fijian foods at fine dining restaurants, incorporating local produce into mainstream resort menus had been difficult for chefs. Overall, the way large-scale multinational resorts are structured in terms of their food requirements does not make them ideal partners for food producers in developing countries, particularly SIDS.

摘要

2015年联合国批准的可持续发展目标(SDGs)将指导全球发展到2030年。旅游业作为一个产业, 在全球南方, 特别是在小岛屿发展中国家的发展讨论和发展规划中受到相当的重视。一些作者认为, 在食品生产者与旅游业的联系方面有特别好的前景, 因为他们认为, 应该能够通过将更多的地方食品列入菜单, 加强小岛屿发展中国家的地方食品系统和旅游业的联系。在本文中, 我们检验了以下假设, 即在旅游业和食品生产系统之间, 特别是农业和渔业之间建立强有力的联系是可能的, 也是可取的, 并将导致更可持续的发展。我们的研究数据来自南太平洋国家斐济的酒店厨房和农场。当根据可持续发展目标2、12和14对斐济的数据进行反思时, 很明显, 在以一种将在未来实现更可持续发展的方式发展食品与旅游业的联系方面存在着相当大的限制。虽然”岛屿之夜”的菜单确实使用了大量当地农产品, 而且少数客人喜欢在高级餐厅享用斐济食品, 但将当地农产品纳入主流度假村菜单对厨师来说一直很困难。总的来说, 大型跨国度假村根据其食品需求进行组织的方式并不使它们成为发展中国家, 特别是小岛屿发展中国家食品生产者的理想伙伴。

Keywords:

• Food
• agriculture
• fisheries
• tourism
• SDGs
• Fiji
• SIDS
• MNCs
• tourist resorts

关键词:

• 食物
• 农业
• 渔业
• 旅游业
• 可持续发展目标
• 斐济
• 小型岛屿发展中国家
• 多国公司
• 旅游胜地

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Local Fijian (i.e. Bauen) terms are highlighted in single quotation marks.

2 All local and scientific names based on Jansen, Parkinson, and Robertson (1990).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Regina Scheyvens

Regina Scheyvens is Professor of Development Studies at Massey University, New Zealand, where she combines a passion for teaching about international development with research on tourism and sustainable development. Her two main books are Tourism for Development: Empowering Communities (Pearson, 2002), and Tourism and Poverty (Routledge, 2011) and she has also written many articles on themes such as inclusive tourism, backpacker tourism, ecotourism and sustainable tourism. Regina's field research is mainly in the South Pacific.

Gabriel Laeis

Gabriel Laeis is a lecturer at IUBH International University, Germany, where he teaches undergraduate and postgraduate courses on hospitality and tourism management. His teaching is largely based on practical experience in the hospitality industry as a chef, waiter and consultant. Gabriel holds an MSc in organic food chain management and a PhD in international development. He has conducted research projects on agriculture-tourism linkages in South Africa and Fiji.