Biography

Gerald (Gino) Kock, is a 1987 alumni of the Culinary Institute of America, with over 15 years of experience in the hotel, restaurant, airline and healthcare industry (Aruba, St. Maarten, the Netherlands and the United States of America). He later joined the educational arena where he was mainly in charged with the implementation and supervision of the American Culinary Federation's Apprenticeship Program at the local community college "Colegio EPI." There he also served as a dean of student affairs. During that same period, he obtained his Bachelor's degree in Business Management in the Netherlands graduating Cum Laude. He is currently finalizing his Ph.D. at the University of Central Florida's Rosen College of Hospitality Management. Besides presenting at Graduate Hospitality Conferences, he has three publications listed in Journal of Heritage Tourism Journal of Convention & Event Tourism International Journal of Hospitality Management His main interest is about measuring the impact of food consumption, with a specific focus on the socio-economic impact of locally produced foods (local agricultural /local farmers).

Article Title

Tourism and Agriculture in Aruba – Analyzing Food Supply Chain Issues between Farmers, Restaurants and Tourists

Abstract

For the past three decades, the tourism industry has played an increasingly important role in local economies. However, socio-environmentalists classify this industry as a "double-edged sword" industry, supporting their arguments with the damaging activities caused by tourism development. Some of these damaging activities include increased demand for imported food, resulting in foreign exchange leakages and competition with local production. Also, previous research indicated that tourism development has harmed agricultural progress by attracting land and labor away from the agrarian sector.

More specifically, tourism development is often accompanied with increased demand for imported food, which results in foreign exchange leakages, inflation and competition with local production. This phenomenon is very common in the Caribbean, where Aruba, with its heavy reliance on imported goods and services, is no exception to this occurrence. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to holistically analyze existing linkages between tourism and agriculture, by examining strategies that constrain the development of these linkages between different stakeholders related to the tourism industry. To comprehend potential problems associated with linking both sectors, this in-depth case study addresses four fundamental questions:

• What is the impact on global and regional tourism on the Aruban agriculture?
• What is the structure of supply and demand of food for the tourism industry of Aruba?
• What factors constrain the development of linkages between international tourism and Aruba’s local agriculture?
• What is the economic impact of promoting the linkage between agriculture and tourism?

Using stochastic and deterministic methodological approaches, data will be obtained from qualitative interviews and surveys from three different stakeholders in the food supply chain of Aruba. Anticipated findings illustrate that the existing linkage between tourism and agriculture in Aruba is still weak. However, the food consumption and preferences by tourists can contribute in enhancing these linkages.