The Role of Local Food in Maldives Tourism - Scholarly Commons ...

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Acknowledgements I am obliged to acknowledge those without whose contribution, support and assistance this thesis would not have seen completion. First of all, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Simon Milne, whose support, guidance and encouragement were fundamental in helping me to create this thesis. From the time of my first enquiry, I have received his advice and assistance. I am indebted to him for his understanding and extreme patience throughout the duration of this thesis. Secondly, I am extremely grateful to my secondary supervisor, Dr. John Hull, for his valuable feedback, advice and motivating remarks. I would like to thank the experts and operators who have contributed to this thesis by providing information, data and opinion, without which this thesis would have been incomplete. I am especially grateful to Niyaz and Bassam, my nephews. Niyaz’s support went a long way in successfully conducting the surveys. It was Bassam who facilitated the collection of printed marketing materials from Maldives. I extend my heartfelt thanks to Eva and Uli, my friends. Apart from their kind assistance, they also remained my mentors while I was working on this thesis. Finally, the support of my family was crucial in accomplishing this thesis. I owe the accomplishment of this thesis to Janah, my husband, who is the pillar of support in my education. This thesis would not have been possible without his tremendous and unwavering help. A special note of appreciation is extended to my sister, Aminath Rashyda, for her encouragement and assistance. It was her intervention that made it possible for me to travel to New Zealand. Many thanks go to my children, Nurain, Naushyn and Jasim, for their extreme love, care and understanding throughout the duration of this thesis. Their interest in my work, celebrating my progress as their achievement, was a driving force to complete this thesis. With uncomplaining endurance, they happily took the burden of doing so many chores and spent many weekends and holidays at home to give me time to work on the thesis. While acknowledging all of the above, I would like to dedicate this thesis to my beloved father, Ismail Ibrahim (Dhon Ismaal), who passed away three months after I commenced work on this thesis. vii
Abstract In the fiercely competitive globalized tourism industry, where there is growing concern for the development of sustainable tourism, tourism stakeholders are confronted with the challenge of creating innovative product differentiation and effective marketing that will increase yield and promote sustainable tourism development. Food is a fundamental part of the tourist experience. Increasingly, local food is used in tourism as an integral part of the visitor attraction to enrich tourist experiences. Local food acts as a differentiating feature for destinations and can play an important role in increasing visitor yield, stimulating growth in other economic sectors and promoting sustainable occupations. The close relationship between local food and culture enables the promotion of cultural heritage by promoting local food. Thus, linking local food and tourism has the potential to create more sustainable tourism practices and outcomes. This study evaluates the role of local food in tourism promotion. It also focuses on economic development, exploring the potential for creating linkages between local food and tourism in the context of sustainable tourism practices. The research is based on a case study of the Republic of Maldives, a country which has gained success in the international tourism market by promoting the natural beauty of its tropical islands. Like many Small Island Developing States (SIDS), tourism is the key to the Maldives’ economic development. But a heavy reliance on imports and a large expatriate labour force cause a significant leakage of tourism revenue. Tourism has been developed under a one-island-one-resort concept. This has created tourist enclaves that limit distribution of tourism benefits among local communities. Hence, Maldives’ tourism needs ways to broaden economic linkages and increase tourism yield. Broader visitor experiences that enhance product attractiveness in ways that still conserve and protect the fragile ecosystem are also required. This research utilized content and discourse analyses and surveys in a mixed-methods approach. Content analysis of printed and web-based tourism marketing materials reveals that food is not featured prominently as a tourist attraction in the Maldives. Surveys conducted among operators and experts indicate considerable support for and the potential benefits of, linking food to tourism; these stakeholders also state that they believe there is a strong desire on the part of tourists to experience local food. A range of issues and constraints that work against linking local food and tourism are revealed; viii
Page 1 and 2: The Role of Local Food in Maldives
Page 3 and 4: CHAPTER FIVE: THE CURRENT ROLE OF F
Page 5 and 6: Figure 5.26 Buffet dinner .........
Page 7: Attestation of authorship “I here
Page 11 and 12: 1.1 Background to the study CHAPTER
Page 13 and 14: attractiveness and promoting sustai
Page 15 and 16: Figure 1. 1 Map of the Republic of
Page 17 and 18: CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW The
Page 19 and 20: and nationalities are broadened (Sh
Page 21 and 22: focus on creating “meaningful tou
Page 23 and 24: quality of their services and produ
Page 25 and 26: waiting list for future Guggenheim
Page 27 and 28: Natural and cultural attractions ar
Page 29 and 30: local culture, built heritage, and
Page 31 and 32: Although the above inherent charact
Page 33 and 34: ituals and leisure (Tannahill, 2002
Page 35 and 36: and participation in the experience
Page 37 and 38: Cultural exploration is an integral
Page 39 and 40: 2002). As Jones and Jenkins (2002)
Page 41 and 42: Figure 2. 2 Isle of Arran food trai
Page 43 and 44: globalisation strong local food ide
Page 45 and 46: vegetarian pizza outlets are run by
Page 47 and 48: tradition are made sustainable in t
Page 49 and 50: tourism” (p. 115). As their examp
Page 51 and 52: Slow Food Award in 2000 which recog
Page 53 and 54: eing researched. Although the small
Page 55 and 56: On the other hand, the focus of the
Page 57 and 58: A disadvantage of case sstudies is
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1. data triangulation: uses a range
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A number of international organisat
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Content analysis has been a valuabl
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3.6.2 Surveys “A survey is a good
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Table 3. 2 Advantages vantages and
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3.7 Data validity and reliability I
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3.8 Survey characteristics Out of t
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were doing doctoral research that w
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was a British protectorate from 188
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Figure 4. 2 Population growth rate
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4.3 Economy The Republic of Maldive
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4.4 Agriculture Agriculture plays o
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population was badly affected by th
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enefits of tourism among all the at
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As tourism became established in th
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prospect repeatedly proclaimed by e
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Table 4. 1 Maldives tourist arrival
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Figure 4. 8 Market share of top ten
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provided a slow burning barbecue to
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Figure 4. 13 Rukuraa and raabadhi S
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CHAPTER FIVE: THE CURRENT ROLE OF F
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possible” (Sarantakos, 1998, p. 2
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Table 5. 3 Frequency of images in p
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(Figure 5.3). As Figure 5.4 illustr
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Figure 5. 6 Dining experience Sourc
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Figure 5. 9 Website with no informa
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The description indicates that food
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Figure 5. 11 Screw pine Source: Mal
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Figure 5. 14 Local ‘tea’ ceremo
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Hence, the kind of analysis needed
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Figure 5. 18 Barbecue menus Source:
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Figure 5. 19 Seafood display Source
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Figure 5. 22 Unloading fish to the
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chefs in our booming tourist indust
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Figure 5. 25 Activities featured as
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Table 5. 5 Importance of using loca
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CHAPTER SIX: DEVELOPING LINKS BETWE
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Table 6. 3 Number of respondents th
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ight quality of products from these
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experts, “It is of great potentia
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have failed to utilise”. One of t
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Figure 6. 1 Number of local and for
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local cuisine. This warning echoes
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• Since tourism operators and exp
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to authentic local foods. In additi
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products. This would pave the way f
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• Promote Maldives as an environm
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Figure 6. 4 Garudhiya bai meal Sour
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Figure 6. 7 Canned curries, garudhi
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Figure 6. 11 Screw pine fruit and n
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Figure 6. 14 Short eats Source: Mal
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Figure 6. 16 Smooth loofah, Thoraa
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Figure 6. 19 Malaafaiy Source: Leis
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Figure 6. 21 Drinks made with local
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CHAPTER SEVEN: CONCLUSIONS In an in
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list ‘local’ food items were of
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apparent from tourism marketing mat
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operator” (Omidi, 2009b). Those r
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Bibliography ADB. (2005). Country s
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Buhalis, D. (2001). The tourism phe
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Everett, S., & Aitchison, C. (2008)
Page 181 and 182:
Heath, E., & Wall, G. (1992). Marke
Page 183 and 184:
Lutfy, M. I. (1995). Dhivehiraajjeg
Page 185 and 186:
MTCA. (2007b). Tourism Yearbook. Ma
Page 187 and 188:
Ravenscroft, N., & Westering, J. V.
Page 189 and 190:
Sheehan, K. (2001). E-mail survey r
Page 191 and 192:
Veal, A. J. (1997). Research method
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Appendix 1 - Operators’ Questionn
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Appendix 3 - Participant Informatio
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Appendix 4 - Ethics Approval 197
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Committee. Until full approval has
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