How to make money by feeding the tourists: the case of Fiji

This paper reports a study of the horticultural chain in Fiji. The objectives of the research was to understand how the domestic horticultural supply could meet the demand currently generated by the tourism sector, i.e. how new income opportunities for the rural people could be generated by feeding the tourists. If policy interventions are to be directed at strengthening backward economic linkages between tourism and local food supplier, a better understanding of factors driving farmers marketing choice is required. This paper aims to contribute in this regard by analyzing the decisions of farmers to engage in direct selling to hotels. Hotels pay premium prices for quality fresh produce and direct marketing can allow farmers to retain the highest possible portion of this premium without sharing it with intermediaries. The results of the application of a discrete choice model to data collected in the chain study, suggest that quality is the most important factor among those affecting the choice of direct marketing to hotels. Other variables influencing the decision were found to be ethnicity, distance from the market and the availability of transportation means of property.