The “marriage” between agriculture and tourism in the Pacific

“More local content on plates and more local Agrifood products on offer for visitors, tourists and the hotel industry means more income and employment opportunities for our farmers, suppliers, private sector and overall interest in the agricultural sector.” These were the words from Dr Ken Cokanasiga, Acting Deputy Director, Land Resources Division, Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) during his opening statement at the Opening of the first ever Pacific Community AgriTourism Week.After two days of intense Social Reporting Training in preparation for the event, the week finally started with over 100 people attending. Most participants of this AgriTourism Week come from across the Pacific, and also guest participants from the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean are gathered at one of Fiji’s prime Resort Island, Sofitel Resort and Spa, Denarau Island, Nadi.

Before walking into the Conference Room for the opening ceremony, one cannot stop to admire the glistening of the sun rays upon the calm waters as you look out through the opening in the main foyer. Such a beautiful day to be amongst the many tourists getting ready to dive into their carefree duties of relaxation soaking up the sea, sun and sand. And in all its irony, here we were, all moving into the cold, air-conditioned room to begin a week-long discussions on how we could stimulate more interest for local food content to this booming industry. How can we attract hotels to desire more of our local produce? How can we ensure that our local growers and farmers will be able to support this fast booming industry? These are some of the questions that will ignite discussions throughout the week.

See more via CTA's blog: http://blogs.cta.int/2015/06/29/marriage-agriculture-tourism-pacific/