The Nexus Between Agriculture and Tourism in the Island of Crete, Greece

Abstract

The relationship between agriculture and tourism in the island of Crete, Greece has been studied. Both agriculture and the tourism industry contribute more than 50% in the Gross Domestic Product of the island. The linkages between agriculture and tourism in many tourism-dominated communities and rural areas worldwide have been reviewed. The current status of agriculture and the tourism industry in Crete has been examined as well as the agro-tourism development in the island during the last few decades which is considered a typical example of agriculture-tourism cooperation. The healthy tasty Cretan diet is based on locally produced food ingredients and it is famous all over the world. Therefore, it could be further promoted by the tourism industry in the island. Increased use of local gastronomy could improve the competitiveness of the Cretan tourism industry which is currently based on mass tourism and the "sea, sun and sand" model. This could be a springboard to the local agricultural production of the island to partly cover the demand for catering in the tourism industry. Various new policies and measures are required for increasing the linkages in these two sectors. The use of locally produced agricultural products would replace foodstuff transported to the island from long distances, reducing the carbon emissions due to their transportation. Strengthening the linkages between agriculture and tourism in Crete would trigger growth in both sectors, offering many economic, social and environmental benefits to the island.

Ready for the «Check-In» of Local Products on Hotel Menus?

“…Hotels can be competitive when they respond to the increased demand for tourism experiences linked to the "taste of place" [12,14,32] and the strategy they implement is important for such a purpose [2,28]. Moreover, tourists' stay can be strongly linked to food, since in hotels, tourists are usually in daily contact with local agri-food products [1,2,4,6,14,28] and when they return to their countries, they are likely to seek them out [4,45]. Therefore, enhancing the dynamic involvement of hotels in promoting gastronomy tourism can be beneficial for the destination [31].…”

“…The latter blunts the price gap in local agri-food products due to the limited involvement of intermediaries, as other studies have observed [1,3,5,29]. To address this problem, local actors have to play a coordinating role to mitigate the differences between stakeholders and strengthen the supply network [6]. Furthermore, certifying the quality of local agri-food products and joining certification networks can substantially help in this direction as well [32].…”

“…Agri-food is increasingly attracting the interest of researchers for its potential links with tourism, as it has been found to have positive benefits for local communities and lead to economic growth in tourist destinations [1][2][3][4][5][6].…”

“…Economic benefits further arise from the small supply chains formed by this linkage [1], which blunt the price gap in local products from the limited involvement of intermediaries [1,3,5,29]. This benefits the hotel sector because it achieves more cost-effective ways of sourcing agri-food products, to meet the nutritional needs of its guests [1,5,6,29], particularly where the linkage is achieved through direct contracting between the producer and the hotel [3,5,29].…”

Chaordic destination image formulation through gastronomy perspectives: evidence from Greece

“…There are also destinations (e.g. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece) who are now beginning to promote their gastronomic offerings (Fox, 2007; Meller and Cerovic, 2003; Peštek and Činjarević, 2014; Vourdoubas, 2020). This is particularly important for tourists who view a destinations’ gastronomy as an opportunity to experience something new, novel and adventurous (Lee and Crompton, 1992; Ji et al , 2016).…”