HOTEL FOOD SUPPLY AND LOCAL FOOD PRODUCTION IN JAMAICA: A STUDY IN TOURISM GEOGRAPHY

Economic benefits of tourist spending in the Caribbean are reduced by several foreign-exchange leakages such as the high import content of tourist food consumption. In Jamaica 33.9 percent (approximately U.S. Local foods account for 45.8 percent by value of all food used by Jamaican hotels and include chicken, pork, lobster, and fresh fruit and vegetables. Major food imports include meat (especially prime cuts of beef) and poultry, seafood, canned and frozen fruit and vegetables, dairy products, and oils and fats. Most hotel food imports come from the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. Reasons for using imported food relate to availability, quality, regularity of supply, convenience, taste, and price. The combination of reasons varies from one food item to another.High-class hotels use a smaller proportion of local to total food than low-class hotels. Despite considerable variance within each hotel class category, the unweighted average percentage of local food used drops from 61.6 for low-class hotels to 52.1 for intermediate-class hotels and to 43.6 for high-class hotels. High-class hotels purchase more imported food because their clientele is willing to pay higher prices for better quality and greater variety of food.Large hotels use a smaller proportion of local to total food than small hotels. Despite considerable variance within each hotel size category, there is a significant difference in the unweighted average proportion of local food consumed by small hotels (60.2 percent) and intermediate hotels (41.6 percent). There is no significant difference, however, between the latter and large hotels (42.2 percent). As hotel size increases, food operations are facilitated by using a variety of prepared, pre-cooked, and portion-controlled foods which are mostly imported.Hotels obtain their food from three major sources. Wholesalers, dominated by two large companies, supply 69 percent by value of all hotel food purchases and provide a variety of supplies in bulk, especially imported goods. Small local suppliers provide hotels mainly with fresh fruit and vegetables and seafood, and account for 27.9 percent of all hotel food purchases. Markets and supermarkets account for only 3.1 percent of all food purchased by hotels and are used mostly in emergency cases.No statistically significant differences was found in the use of local food among the various tourist areas of Jamaica, despite spatial variations in hotel class and size. Similarly, no significant difference in the average percentage of local food used was found between foreign-owned hotels and locally owned hotels.In the past decade Jamaican hotels have achieved considerable food import-substitution. Little additional import substitution of fresh fruit and vegetables can be achieved because it is extensive. Some of the frozen fruit and vegetables presently imported, however, can be grown locally. Greater foreign-exchange savings can be realized if import substitution is directed at meat and poultry. Potential for increasing production of cheap cuts of beef, duck, turkey, goat, and fish seems relatively good in the short to medium term. Import substitution of such foods as high-quality beef, veal, lamb, and shrimp seems unlikely in the short term.