Sugar Heritage and Tourism in Transition

By Lee Jolliffe

Multilingual Matters

Copyright © 2013 Lee Jolliffe and the authors of individual chapters
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-84541-387-3

Contents

Acknowledgements,
Contributors,
Part 1: Introduction,
1 Connecting Sugar Heritage and Tourism Lee Jolliffe,
Part 2: Perspectives from Sugar-Producing Countries,
2 Tourism Potential at the Origins of Sugar Production Linda Joyce Forristal,
3 Sugar-Related Tourism in Australia: A Historical Perspective Peter D. Griggs,
4 Brazil’s Sugar Heritage and Tourism – From Engenhos to Cachaça Angela Cabral Flecha and Linda Joyce Forristal,
Part 3: Perspectives from Countries Transitioning from Sugar to Tourism,
5 The Industrial Heritage of Sugar at World Heritage Sites in the Caribbean Tara A. Inniss and Lee Jolliffe,
6 Developing Sugar Heritage Tourism in St Kitts Rachel Dodds and Lee Jolliffe,
7 The Contested Heritage of Sugar and Slavery at Tourism Attractions in Barbados and St Lucia Mechelle N. Best and Winston F. Phulgence,
8 Transforming Taiwan’s Sugar Refineries for Leisure and Tourism Abby Liu,
Part 4: Consuming Sugar and its Heritage,
9 Sugar in Tourism: ‘Wrapped in Devonshire Sunshine’ Paul Cleave,
10 Sugarcane and the Sugar Train: Linking Tradition, Trade and Tourism in Tropical North Queensland Leanne White,
11 From Sugar as Industry to Sugar as Heritage: Changing Perceptions of the Chelsea Sugar Works Jane Legget,
12 Sugar Heritage at the World’s Museums Lee Jolliffe,
Part 5: Conclusion,
13 Issues and Trends in Sugar Heritage Tourism Lee Jolliffe,
Index,

CHAPTER 1

Connecting Sugar Heritage and Tourism

Lee Jolliffe

Sugar is an integral part of our everyday lives, as we add it to our coffee or tea and consume sugar based treats. As indicated by Galloway (1989), sugar seems to have been with us in all parts of the world at all times, valued for its ability to bring out flavours and colours in food, but also as a preservative and fermenting agent. But sugar is much more than just part of global and local cuisines and food-ways. Sugar is a global commodity and the history of its cultivation and production has formed our world today, from impacting the nature of cultures to influencing what we eat (Abbott, 2008; Menard, 2006). There are many roles and facets to the story of sugar, including the shaping of cultures and identities though the history of colonization and enslavement-related migration, as well as the ongoing transitions of this global commodity from planting to processing, and from refining to consumption. The use of sugar in contemporary society is also related to the global food industries, as well as to associated health impacts related to sugar consumption (Menard, 2006) and environmental consequences connected to its growth.

With a complex and evolving relationship there are many questions about the realities of sugar history and heritage. How has sugar influenced cultures and societies? What happens when production at particular locations declines? What are the consequences when countries completely exit from being sugar producers and transition towards tourism? How is sugar ingrained as part of national identities, what does this mean to so many countries and how is this reflected in the tourism product? In what ways can the dark history of sugar production be interpreted and understood in relation to our contemporary world? These are only some of the key questions related to the heritage and the global and local legacies of sugar cultivation and production.

The aim of this first chapter then is to provide a background to the subject of sugar heritage in relation to tourism, defining and discussing key concepts and then outlining a research framework for the rest of the volume. The chapter also discusses the rationale for the book and outlines how it is organized.

Definitions

What do we mean by sugar? According to the Oxford Dictionary it is a sweet crystalline substance derived from various plants, mainly sugarcane and sugar beet, consisting essentially of sucrose, and used as a sweetener in food and drink. When discussing sugar in this book the scope has been limited to sugar from sugarcane, which accounts for about 80% of world production, while not discounting the subjects of sugar in relation to sugar beets, honey and maple syrup as worth consideration for other studies.

Today sugarcane is in cultivation around the world, with the top producers (as of 2010) including Brazil, India and the People’s Republic of China (Anon., 2012). However, sugar is produced in many more countries, in fact a total of 90 as reported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Anon., 2012). Issues with contemporary sugarcane cultivation include competitiveness in terms of production and with other sources, especially sugar beet. Molasses derived from sugarcane is also used for the production of rum. In addition, new uses for sugarcane, such as the production of biofuels (ethanol) from cane, are now propelling the industry.

With many small countries, formerly kingpins in the global sugar business, having declining or no sugarcane harvests (such as Trinidad which closed their nationalized sugar industry in 2003), sugar for domestic use and rum production must be imported. Due to declining sugar production, Barbados also now has to import molasses, which is a byproduct of sugar production, for the manufacture of rum.

Sugar heritage can be broadly defined as the heritage related to the history and culture, cultivation, production and consumption of sugar derived from sugarcane. This is a rich and varied heritage that derives from a long and contested history, not often discussed and recognized, as the colonial quest for sugar propelled the transatlantic slave trade leaving a legacy of disputed heritage that is only now beginning to be rediscovered by the descendants of both the colonizers and the enslaved. Discussing the dark legacies of the story of sugar is not easy, this is what Timothy and Boyd (2003) refer to as an excluded past, but open discussions can lead to insights as to the origins of cultures and cultural change, and to the loss of civil liberties due to the domination of sugar in the face of colonial expansion and capitalism. Such tough discussions can be initiated by the publication of books with their associated book launches, such as that for Confronting Slavery: Breaking the Corridors of Silence (Thompson, 2010), and museum exhibitions, as evidenced at the Kura Hulanda Museum in Curacao (Scott, 2010).

Today, as locales formerly dominated by king sugar recreate themselves, often without sugar, investigations into the past legacies of sugar and the plantation system under which it was produced can shed new light not only on the past, but on the future. Tourism, despite its negative aspects discussed in this chapter, can potentially provide both locals and guests with opportunities to learn about and gain insights into sugar heritage, through visitation to related sites and attractions, and can do some good in contributing to personal reflections and perspectives related to the legacies and heritage of the global production of sugar.

Sugar heritage tourism is gradually emerging. This can be defined as tourism related to the heritage of sugar, utilizing sugar heritage resources to develop products and experiences for tourists to consume. In global locations where traditional sugar cultivation and production are in decline the vestiges of the former industries (landscapes shaped by the growth of cane, former plantations and estates and the heritage structures associated with them, such as plantation houses, factories and their components, windmills, etc.) may now be valued as heritage tourism resources. Since the history of forced labour in the form of both enslavement and indentureship was often connected to sugar plantations and production there is a contested heritage to be interpreted (Thompson, 2010). In cases where island economies once depended on sugarcane as the primary basis for their economic activity there may have been a complete transition to a reliance on tourism, reflected by the associated cultural change.

The heritage of sugar then is multifaceted, and like any heritage resource is represented in both the tangible and intangible cultural heritage resources of a destination. In terms of tourism planning and development, heritage, such as that of sugar, is a resource that can be commodified and packaged for tourism (Timothy & Boyd, 2003). At locations where sugar still dominates as an industry there may be a lack of interest or recognition of the potential that sugar heritage holds for developing new forms of tourism. When sugar industries are no longer operating then sugar is valued more for its heritage aspects, which may have been imbedded in local cultures and traditions, as in the case of Cuba (Barnet & Lindstrom, 1980).

Examples of the sugar heritage and tourism nexus are found in the Caribbean, formerly a key sugar-producing region. Here, the UNESCO Slavery Heritage Projects (including the Slave Route and the Places of Memory for the route in the Caribbean) influenced the heritage tourism product, i.e. in Barbados the Footprints to Freedom tour product. Individual entrepreneurs (such as Larry Warren at Saint Nicholas Abbey in Barbados)across the region are contributing to developing sugar heritage related tourism, especially in situations in the region where the government and public bodies do not have the resources for such development. The role of the universities in the region should also be noted, on the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies in Jamaica, a former sugar plantation, the university has developed a heritage tour as a product. Here vestiges of the former plantation structures form an enduring part of the landscape of the university, such as the aqueduct that carried water for the plantation.

In relation to tourism, using sugar heritage as a lens thus gives a distinctive way of tracing the movements of people, products and experiences in relation to a global commodity that has shaped our modern world. This gives a unique perspective on the changes that migration, both forced and voluntary, has brought in the past and is bringing today to global culture.

Sugar contributes to the production of souvenirs, playing a key role in the production of popular sugar based confectionaries sold as mementos of a place, so there are in addition culinary and experiential aspects to interpreting the heritage of sugar to be considered. Sugar is inherent in hospitality and food service experiences as it is a key ingredient in both beverages and desserts, and with dining being a popular tourist activity, memories and mementos of this experience can be tied back to sugar. Traditions such as afternoon tea, sought out as souvenirs of destination experiences, are also dependent on sugar (Jolliffe, 2007).

So sugar, once produced and refined, becomes a key ingredient in the sweet products associated with tourism, ranging from special cakes that are distinctive of particular destinations (such as the Eccles cake or the Bakewell tart, both named after the UK towns where they originated) to souvenir candies (such as the rock candy sold in England’s seaside resorts such as Blackpool) that are distinctive of place.

Specialty sugars are also produced as souvenirs, as with the classic tin of Barbados Plantation Reserve Sugar, where a joint equity company between the government and small producers (designed to counter the decline in traditional sugar processing) is producing a high quality cane sugar marketed throughout the Caribbean as well as through UK supermarkets and higher end food outlets such as Harrods and Fortnum and Mason.

Research Framework

The research framework discussed below is delineated along the themes of:

• Contexts – historical; economic; cultural change; cultural heritage management.

• Points of view – postcolonialism; commodification; sustainability.

• Issues – politics; globalization; tourism development.

Contexts

Historical

Historically, sugar provided one of the original motivations for European expansion, colonization and authority in the New World, precipitating events that would change the course of history in the western hemisphere. The migration of people caused by the development of colonial sugar industries, in the form of plantation owners from Europe and the forced labour provided by the transatlantic slave trade, precipitated the development of new cultures in new lands, as people came together in plantation settings creating new cultures (Barnet & Lindstrom, 1980).

The history of sugar, dating back to the ancient world and continuing to the present day, is considered in detail in Chapter 2. Briefly stated, the cultivation, production and use of sugar has evolved over time, being a key motivation for the process of colonization, wars between one country and another, enslavement and apprenticeship of large populations to provide labour, influencing the creolization of societies as people from all over the world came together on sugar estates and plantations in the ‘New World’. A chronology of sugar begins with its discovery and use in ancient times, and is still ongoing, with locales where sugar is no longer produced beginning to recognize the residual heritage values that can be employed for the benefit of local populations, economies and visitors.

The history of sugar is thus global, beginning with its origins as a grass in New Guinea (8000 bc) and the crushing of sugarcane and extraction of crystals in India (1st century ad) (Ferdinand & Williams, 2012). In the New World sugar history begins with Columbus introducing sugarcane on his second voyage to the Caribbean (from the Canary Islands to Hispaniola; ad 1493), and within the next decade the first enslaved Africans were brought to the Caribbean to work on sugar plantations (1510). The transnational slave trade provided the workers for the labour-intensive sugar production using the plantation model, until slavery was ended by England in 1834 and by France in 1848; although slavery was to end later in other jurisdictions, such as Puerto Rico (1876) and Cuba (1884). After the demise of slavery, in some cases, such as in British colonies, indentured labourers from India were bro ught to the Caribbean to replace the slave labour.

After the abolition of slavery there was still migration to the sugar-producing West Indies, but now from different parts of the world in the form of indentured labourers from Asia. This has brought a multiculturaldimension to many islands, such as Trinidad and Togabo (TT) where today Carnival, a celebration occurring after Lent, originating in plantation times, is still a highlight of the annual calendar, as well as a major draw for cultural tourism (Nurse, 2008). The plantation-related origins of this event are evident ‘Carnival celebrations in TT originated from French immigrant planters and their slaves who came to the island due to liberal immigration policies introduced by Spanish colonisers’ (Ferdinand & Williams, 2012).

Economic

An economic perspective is also important, as both sugar and tourism are linked to forms of economic exploitation in both colonial and contemporary times (Chambers, 1997). Aspects of this link persist, as noted by a number of researchers (Patullo, 1996), in the case of contemporary tourism utilizing sugar heritage resources, as attractions on former plantations use local employees as hosts (some descended from the enslaved plantation workers) and to serve guests (some descended from the former plantation owners and with ties to the former colonial countries).

The economics of heritage is also relevant. Heritage attractions receive some direct operational and project funding from government, but heritage facilities are increasingly required to generate their own revenues, through user fees, special events, retailing, grants and donations (Timothy & Boyd, 2003). International tourism thus produces pressures for sites, including those related to sugar heritage, to develop facilities and interpretation that caters to the needs of tourists and to undertake marketing to attract visitors (Law, 2001).

Cultural change

Sugar culture for the sugar-producing locales became a part of the very being of sugar-producing places; for example, in the West Indies where the year became characterized by the cycle of the sugar harvest. Beyond the West Indies sugar influenced the development of ports, such as Bristol and Liverpool, which depended upon the sugar industry as refining and packaging factories were set up. Sugar fed the industrial revolution in England, as workers were able to gain sustenance from tea and sugar to sustain the long hours working in factories. In other parts of the world refining facilities were similarly established; for example, sugar refineries were set up in the Canadian port cities of Montreal, Quebec (1888); Vancouver, British Columbia (1890s); Saint John, New Brunswick (1912) and Toronto, Ontario (1950s). The reach of sugar in terms of its influence on local cultures was therefore well beyond the producing locales.

Cultural heritage management

The management of culture also provides useful perspectives for the study of sugar heritage tourism. For example, the historical trajectory of tourism replacing sugar, especially in the Caribbean, as several islands abandoned sugar, ‘leaving behind only the decaying remnants of former plantations’ (Found, 2004: 141). A bias in the protection of sugar heritage resources, towards the great plantation houses of the former plantation owners, is noted in the Caribbean: ‘Preserving the housing of the elite from colonial times has been a priority throughout the region’ (Found, 2004: 145). Other authors have found that in the interpretation of slavery it has been common for plantations and plantation houses to be rearticulated as heritage products (Buzinde & Santos, 2008). There are also marketing and interpretive challenges at sensitive historic sites, such as former sugar plantation settings (Austin, 2002), as well as particular issues that relate to the interpretation of slavery (Buzinde & Santos, 2009).

Developing sustainable sugar-related heritage tourism sites that provide a quality visitor experience can contribute to the tourism development objectives of destinations (Drummond & Yeoman, 2001) as well as to the desired national heritage discourses and identities (Frew & White, 2011). A variety of types of sugar-related heritage attractions and experiences are part of contemporary tourism, and given the depth and breadth of the heritage of sugar many more could be developed. Attractions related to sugar run the gambit from traditional museums and heritage sites, to sugar-related tourist railways and theme parks. These attractions use sugar heritage in theming exhibits and activities that educate and inform, or just provide for a nostalgic experience. Due to the contested heritage of sugar, related to the associated enslavement and indentureship in a colonial context, the more serious of these attractions can provide a space and a place for contemplation and the rediscovery of lost heritages and traditions.

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