Caribbean Tourism

Inter-sectoral linkages have long been promoted as a viable means of economic development by World Bank affiliated economists (e.g., Konzinets, 1971; Rostow, 1971; Chenery & Syrquin, 1975; Linden & Mahmood, 2007). The belief is that the wider the inter-sector linkages, the greater their scope for spillover benefits in economies (Crespo and Fontoura 2007). It has been found that spillovers from a thriving sector can have positive impacts on others. For instance, research by Gemmell, Lloyd, and Mathew (2000) found that increases in manufacturing and services both impact positively on agriculture production in Malaysia. Inherently, the service sector has the capacity to forge strong inter-sectoral linkages because services are now a common thread through many other sectors (Grönroos 2007). Over the years, services have become prominent as a sector for economic development. Some of the world’s most advanced economies are driven by services with more than 70% of their gross domestic prod...

This thesis is an investigation of inter-sectorial linkages between the tourism and agriculture sectors. Tourism presents an innate opportunity to create dynamic service systems that promote sustainable development in both developed and developing countries. The alternative development paradigm promotes tourism inter-sectoral linkages to achieve a more sustainable form of development. Agriculture and Tourism Linkages are generally subscribed to as a means of distributing tourism benefits to host communities in tourism dependent developing countries. The supply of local food to hotels is one channel in which these linkages can be facilitated. For decades, research has found farmer-hotel supply chain relationships to be weak resulting in economic leakages due to high food importation to support the tourism sector (Telfer & Wall, 1996; Torres, 2003). A framework within which these linkages can be strengthened is proposed. Instead of the traditional cost-driven transactional management of hotel supply chains, a service-oriented farmers-hotel supply chain is considered. This approach places greater value on local food as it becomes part of the visitors' service experience. Investigations of two hotels' local food supply chains indicated that the service oriented approach contributes to strengthening agriculture and tourism linkages. Strengthened linkages using local food are expected to contribute to solving socioeconomic challenges such as; unemployment among the rural poor, low income of farmers, food insecurity and poverty. This research provides useful insights for development planners, policy makers, service sector managers, academics and futuristic thinkers in the tourism industry who are all in search of practical solutions to the tourism development challenge highlighted. iii Dedication This thesis is in honor of my mother Margaret Mary Joseph for her commitment to ensuring that my siblings and I were educated even though she did not have such privilege.

... scapes, but the nation states of Western Europe, and they remain like the ruined statue Percy Shelley evoked in his sonnet "Ozymandias," part of that Romantic corpus which both attacks imperialism and consolidates it at the same time: ...