Gastro-tourism, an income-diversification opportunity for small farmers. Dr. Kinga Kerekes Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Transcription

1 Gastro-tourism, an income-diversification opportunity for small farmers Dr. Kinga Kerekes Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania Lajosmizse, 24 th of March 2011

2 Content 1. Rural employment in Romania 2. Gastro-tourism the concept 3. Examples from Romania 4. Transfer of a good practice from Sweden to Romania 2

3 Rural employment in Romania 9,663,516 rural inhabitants (45%) Rural employment rate 53.2% 38% employees, 0.7% employers, 36.5% own account workers, 24.7% family workers, 0.1% cooperative members 60.2% agriculture, 21.1% industry, 18.6% services 3

4 Agricultural holdings engaged in non-agricultural income generating activities in Romania, 2007 Type of activities Individual holdings Legal entities No. % No. % Meat processing Milk processing Fruit and vegetable processing Grape Processing Mixing fodder Fodder shredding Milling (for flour and corn) Wood processing Other processing Agro-tourism Providing services Energy production Crafts Aquaculture Other acvtivities TOTAL

5 Activities on the farm Primary sector Secondary sector Tertiary sector Agricultural production + Value + Jobs Food processing + Value + Jobs Gastro-tourism 5

6 Gastro-tourism / Culinary tourism / Gourmet tourism The pursuit of unique and memorable culinary experiences of all kinds, often while traveling. Culinary tourism is not agro-tourism! Agro-tourism is a subset of rural tourism. Cuisine is a subset of cultural tourism. Source: The International Culinary Tourism Association, 6

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8 Potential gastro-tourism clients Inhabitants of large cities wishing authentic experiences, interested in the food production process and sympathizers of Slow Food movement Companies which organize trainings or team-buildings for their employees Organizers of conferences which include in their program visits to the region Foreign tourists, which usually arrive to the region with other purposes 8

9 Some examples from Romania Adept Foundation Târnava Mare Tourist Association... Sălaj County a proposal

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12 Sălaj County Rural area: 92.6% of the county s total surface, 58.9% of the population 1/3 of the employed population work in agriculture Agriculture s contribution to VAB is 14.7% 76,460 agricultural exploitations, 6 with agrotourism activities 250 certified traditional products Multicultural gastronomic traditions Interreg IVC project RURALAND 12

13 GASTUR - Promotion of local gastronomy Give Jämtland's (Sweden) small-scale food producers an access to new markets Enable visitors to experience the local cuisine on the farms where the food is produced Help small-scale food producers get into part-time tourism entrepreneurs. The project was developped by JHT, Sweden and offered for transfer through the RURACT network

14 The GASTUR method 1. Analysing the current situation of the company 2. Creating a vision for the future 3. Brainstorming of ideas 4. Product processing, converting ideas to real products 5. Testing the new products on a small group of consumers 6. Getting the products to the market 14

15 Selection criteria for potential gastro-tourism greeting units 1. To be small scale food producers (private entrepreneurs, cooperatives, small and medium size companies) 2. To produce certified traditional products 3. The business should be in a maturity phase (to be registered and to have the necessary authorizations) 4. The owners shall have interest, time and competences (technical, communication, foreign language) for the greeting and guidance of tourists 5. To exist potential for the development of a tourism product (an experience to be offered to visitors) 15

16 Challenges related to the transfer of the GASTUR good practice in Sălaj county Local tourism operators are not interested in the development of rural tourism and in the promotion of local tourist objectives Insufficient development of the sector of small food producers (majority are not registered companies) Food producers do not have the necessary skills (language, communication, management) to develop tourism services Precarious state of rural infrastructure, including the road and communications infrastructure Reduced number of rural accommodation structures Inefficient communication and cooperation between public institutions, tourism agencies and food producers 16

17 Proposed steps for the development of gastro-tourism 1.Preparation of food producers for receiving tourists 2.Development of gastro-tourism products 3.Promotion of the services by tourism operators, hotels, etc. 4.Establishment of a promotion and consultancy centre in the field of gastro-tourism 5.Partnerships with institutions for the promotion of rural tourism 17

18 Thank you for your attention! 18