A new market segment for olive oil: Olive oil tourism in the south of Spain

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1 Vol.5, No.3, (2014) hp://dx.doi.org/ /as Agriculural Sciences A new marke segmen for olive oil: Olive oil ourism in he souh of Spain Genoveva Millán 1*, Juan M. Arjona 1, Luis Amador 2 1 Deparmen of Quaniaive Mehods, Loyola Andalucía Universiy, Córdoba, Spain; * Corresponding Auhor: gmillan@uloyola.es 2 Deparmen of Economics, Loyola Andalucía Universiy, Córdoba, Spain Received 19 December 2013; revised 19 January 2014; acceped 1 February 2014 Copyrigh 2014 Genoveva Millán e al. This is an open access aricle disribued under he Creaive Commons Aribuion License, which permis unresriced use, disribuion, and reproducion in any medium, provided he original work is properly cied. In accordance of he Creaive Commons Aribuion License all Copyrighs 2014 are reserved for SCIRP and he owner of he inellecual propery Genoveva Millán e al. All Copyrigh 2014 are guarded by law and by SCIRP as a guardian. ABSTRACT Spain is he leading producer of olive oil. For Spain, olive oil and olive growing are no only an imporan source of economic wealh, bu also symbols of is culure and gasronomy renowned boh naionally and inernaionally. However, in rural areas where he olive is he primary source of income for residen families, proposals are being sough for aciviies ha break away from he seasonaliy in income represened by dependence on agriculure. Among all hese proposals here is one ha is oleoourism, which is beginning o gain ground because of is face of culinary ourism. This is due o is uniqueness, and i can also be considered an iniiaive for susainable rural ourism. Given he ineres aroused by his ype of iniiaive, boh on he par of he public adminisraion and also he olive secor, his sudy involves he demand for oleoourism in Andalucía and is a sraegic analysis of oleoourism as a new marke secor in he souh of Spain. KEYWORDS Olive Oil; Oleoourism; Susainabiliy; Andalucía; Rural Developmen 1. INTRODUCTION Olive is a radiional Spanish agri-food expor and a symbol of is rich cuisine. In fac, Spain is he world s larges producer of olive oil wih an average of 1,297,841 ons in he las campaigns, which represens 60% of world producion, and wih expors of 700,000 ons which makes i he world s larges exporer, exporing o over 100 counries on five coninens and whose esimaed ne worh amouns o 3000 million euros [1,2]. Andalucía, a region geographically in souhern Spain, produces 80% of he oil in Spain. The Andalucían region dedicaes more han 1.5 million hecares o olive culivaion, which represen more han 43% of is culivaed area, 60.15% of he olives grown in Spain and 35% of he enire European Union (Table 1). Also, he olive is a crop of grea social imporance in Andalucía. For many Andalucían regions, olive groves are he only source of direc and indirec income for he populaion, and he main economic aciviy in over 300 municipaliies in Andalucía [3]. I is precisely ha heavy reliance on olive growing in many municipaliies in Andalucía ha provokes grea feelings of uncerainy in families regarding heir income because neiher he quaniy nor he qualiy of annual producion can be foreseen wih precision. This uncerainy is due o such unconrollable elemens as he weaher which play a key role in agriculural producion [4,5]. The effecs of hese unconrollable facors are exacerbaed by he seasonaliy of olive producion, concenraed ino a few monhs of labour and involving he income of an enire year. Thus, for example, in Spain he producion of olive oil in 2012 decreased by more han 41% from he 1599 housand ons in 2011 o housand ons in In Andalucía he decline was somewha less: 38.3% from he million ons in 2011 o he housand ons in 2012 (Figure 1), alhough he area devoed o his crop increased slighly during his period (Figure 2). To cope wih he drop in producion and herefore in he income of people engaged in agriculure, a complemenary aciviy ha akes advanage of he olive culure can be generaed o creae a symbiosis beween wo such secors as agriculure and ourism. This mehod makes special use of olive oil as a ouris aracion due o is mills, and is foress of million-year-old olive rees and

2 180 G. Millán e al. / Agriculural Sciences 5 (2014) Table 1. Olive surface disribuion by Auonomous Region (Spain) Communiy Hecares % Andalucía 1,554, Casilla la Mancha 406, Exremadura 269, Caaluña 116, Valencia 94, Aragón 59, Reso Comunidades 83, TOTAL 2,584, Source: compiled by he auhors based on he Spanish Survey on Surfaces and Crop Yields (ESYRCE). Figure 1. Evoluion of olive producion in Andalucía (housands of ons). Source: compiled by he auhors based on he Agriculural Saisics Yearbook. Figure 2. Evoluion of he olive producion surface in Andalucía (housands of hecares). Source: compiled from he Spanish Survey on Surfaces and Crop Yields (ESYRCE). olive groves, which all combine ino an excellen unapped ourism produc (oleoourism) based on he raw maerial of an olive oil ha is well-known inernaionally no only for is organolepic characerisics bu for is use in he Medierranean die. This sudy is no a call o make ourism he main source of income in rural areas, bu raher o ge addiional revenue for local inhabians. I seeks o promoe susainable rural ourism and gasronomy, wih he pracice of eco-aciviies, o generae wealh and employmen over ime, mainaining and preserving he environmen and indusrial heriage, using facories (mills, warehouses, ec.) locaed in rural areas ha can be visied. Touris aciviy will no negae he farm bu will insead help reduce regional imbalances in he area. 2. OLIVE OIL TOURISM AND SUSTAINABLE RURAL TOURISM Oleoourism is a form of domesic ourism (especially in rural areas) relaed o gasronomy, which allows he essence of he culure encompassing he world of he olive o be capured while deepening knowledge abou everyhing conneced o olive oil: food, accommodaion in ypical archiecure inegraed ino he orchards, beauy and healh reamens, relaxaion, ec. Visis o mills, oil asings, mill breakfass, guided ours and he leveraging of local resources associaed wih he producion of olive oil are some of he services ha can be offered o ouriss. Concree measures are needed o suppor boh he ourism and olive secors, in order o achieve a symbiosis beween gasronomical and ourism producs, hus leading o he socio-economic developmen of olive-growing areas. Olive oil ourism can be considered as an economic agen which has a se of characerisics or qualiies ha characerise i as being a bi ou of he ordinary. Tourism based on qualiy agriculural producs in rural areas can be a simulus for he economy o preven migraion o oher areas as a resul of high unemploymen raes in hese developing areas. Naional and supranaional associaions have been creaed o spread he culure of he olive ree. They aim o reconsider he olive as a ourism resource ha generaes culural, heriage and gasronomical landmarks, hus providing impeus for more economic developmen in he municipaliies ha make a living from his ancien crop. Examples of hese associaions are he Spanish Associaion of Olive Municipaliies (AEMO) or European Red Olive Municipaliies (REMO). The Spanish Associaion of Olive Municipaliies (AEMO, creaed in 1996 in Baeza (Jaén), is mean o provide a knowledge plaform from local governmen o promoe and enhance he Olive Culure as he core elemen ariculaing and characerizing he disincive personaliy of cerain communiies: heir economy, landscape, urbanism, environmen, culure, labor marke, hisory, ec. Since i began, i has developed several projecs, such as he creaion of a nework of olive museums, he creaion of organizaions o spread and promoe olive

3 G. Millán e al. / Agriculural Sciences 5 (2014) culure, he organizaion of echnical, culural and gasronomical evens, and ohers for ouris developmen, courses, exhibiions, seminars all relaed o Olive Culure. As saed in he documen by he European Forum of Olive Regions a is meeing in Brussels on March 7, 2012: The olive grove conribues o areas of grea environmenal and scenic value, represening also a key elemen in generaing employmen and income in he rural areas where i is found; a he same ime i is an essenial elemen in he culural heriage of Medierranean regions [6]. Tha is why he developmen of ourism aciviies anchored in he olive world mus have he characerisics associaed wih susainable rural ourism, as hey should harmonize wih he ineress of he aciviy iself, he environmen and local communiy, managing ecological, socio-culural and economic elemens as well as possible and in a compaible way [7-10]. This aciviy helps o break wih he radiional seasonaliy ypical of his secor, which is crucial from an economic sandpoin. Tourism in rural areas is done more regularly hroughou he year: weekends, holiday weekends, Chrismas holidays, ec. I is also less dependen on he weaher being experienced. For his reason, he employmen creaed does no have o be as emporary as mos of wha is creaed by sun and beach ourism, predominan in Andalucía. The developmen of ourism aciviies in rural areas is raher risky, since hose spaces usually have a grea ecological, scenic and culural heriage. Moreover, his aciviy implies acivaing some risk facors for his erriorial zone of reference (land use, developmen of infrasrucures, emissions and discharges of differen subsances, ec.). Therefore, ouris aciviy ha akes place in a rural environmen mus be properly planned and managed [11] o avoid any negaive environmenal, culural or social impacs. This requires he adopion of a long-erm approach (sraegic planning) and aking ino accoun he many ways in which ourism and he environmen can be inerrelaed, hus avoiding siuaions in which hese aciviies or faciliies could overwhelm he capaciy of he area, hereby adversely affecing he demand iself as a resul of environmenal degradaion and/ or he culure of he erriory. Cerainly, unplanned and unconrolled rural ourism could enail irreparable coss, even greaer han any oher radiional ourism, as i involves special physical and psychosocial peneraing forces [12]. 3. THE DESIGNATIONS OF ORIGIN OF OLIVE OIL New rends in consumer habis have increased ineres in higher qualiy and differen producs adaped o he new needs of differen groups and marke segmens. Given his increase in consumpion of differen producs due o heir qualiy, one of he mos valuable ways of achieving i in he agriculural environmen are he geographical indicaors of origin and in paricular Designaion of Origin (DO), which inegrae in heir definiion no only he geographical origin bu, in a relevan way, he radiion and experise involved in producing high qualiy producs wih differeniaed personaliies, as well as he regulaion and conrol mechanisms exercised in heir producion [13]. These designaions of origin are endorsed by a regulaory board ha guaranees ha companies ha are par of he D.O. mee cerain sandards of qualiy in heir manufacured producs, and use raw maerial (in his case, he olive) wih specific organolepic characerisics (color, smell, and ase). In Spain here are 31 D.O. of olive oil and exra virgin olive oil, 14 locaed in Andalucía, where he economic value of he producs of D.O. olive oil were million euros in 2012 (only one-fifh of he producion of olive oil is markeed under he qualiy sandards of he D.O.), represening 8.2% of he economic value of agriculural producs covered under he designaions of origin in Spain, whereas i is he D.O. of cheese ha represens he highes percenage a 23.25%. Figure 1 shows he geographical locaion of he D.O. in Spain. An addiional way o publicize oil as a gasronomic produc is o marke i as a ourism produc, proeced by an appellaion of origin ha creaes a ouris roue where you can learn abou he qualiy of oil, is producion process and is ase. The oil roue concep consiss in forming cerain rural desinaions wih a clear focus on culural and rural ourism, an inegraed produc based on he olive, dining and culural aciviies accompanied by a wide range of relaed accommodaion services (mills, oleoecas, oil museums ) and a wide range of complemenary aciviies: golf, equesrian, commercial, resaurans, nighlife, ec. The oil roue is no, however, a mere show of road signs, bu also safe imeables for visiors, he abiliy o manage and show off one s own company, knowing how o welcome a ouris and make him feel a home, srucural modificaions of he mill, careful cleaning and sales offers An oil roue is characerized by a mixure of naural, culural and social agens, as well as aciviies in he mill, local cuisine, and ha conemplae he world of oil (such as museums), and he purchase of local handicrafs and ypical producs of he area on a roue or visi hrough all he places and resources linked o oil and is relaed lifesyle, wihou disoring or overdoing i, giving rise o represenaions or simulaions. The oil roues are, herefore, driving forces for ourism due o he number of agens involved: farmers, cooperaives, resauraeurs, hoeliers, salesmen, raders and local

4 182 G. Millán e al. / Agriculural Sciences 5 (2014) auhoriies who can generae wealh in he area. However, he olive oil roues in Spain and especially in Andalucía are no as well-known or visied by ouriss as hose peraining o wine, and calls are being made o srenghen hese and help hem o grow by complemening hem wih oher food producs such as wine, ham, ec. (Figure 3). 4. METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS Adaping a mill so i can be visied involves a cos for he enrepreneur, as he has o inves in infrasrucure (he mill mus mee cerain safey sandards) and personnel (he raining of saff o aend o ouriss and learn abou producion echniques and he characerisics of processed oil). Therefore i is necessary o know wha he esimaed demand of oleoouriss could be o see if he invesmen will render a profi. No sudies have been made o forecas he demand for oleoouriss, hence he novely of his sudy. To do so, monhly informaion for he las five years was obained from he number of oleoouriss visiing he mills open o he public in Andalucía. To model he variable number of ouriss, he Box Jenkins mehodology was used o design a seasonal ARIMA model, which sudies a variable based on is pas values (Table 2) Φ B φ B B B Y =Θ B θ B a (1) d s D ( λ ( ) ( ) (1 ) (1 ) ( ) ( ) The demand for Oleoourism in Andalucía is a vari- able wih a rend of variance which has been correced by he Box-Cox ransformaion of λ = 0.2 and average rend and cycle ha have been correced wih a differeniaion in average and in cycle. This gives us he esimaed model for forecasing monhly oleoouris demand in Andalucía. ( B) (1 B) (1 B ) oleourisas = ( B) ( B ) a This model predics ha for November 2013, oleoouris demand will be 27,456 and 24,678 in December, which are he peak monhs for he oleoourism campaign because i is olive harves ime. For 2014, here is an esimaed aggregae demand ha exceeds 110,000 ouriss, which is a far lower figure han he demand for his Table 2. Resuls for ARIMA. Dependen variable: D (OLEOTOURISM 1,1,12) Variable Coefficien Sd. Error -Saisic Prob. AR(1) MA(1) SMA(12) R-squared Mean dependen var Adjused R-squared S.D. dependen var S.E. of regression Akaike info crierion (2) Figure 3. Geographic siuaion of he proeced denominaions of origin of olive oil in Spain. Source: Compiled from informaion provided by he Minisry of Agriculure, Food and he Environmen (hp:// consuled ).

5 G. Millán e al. / Agriculural Sciences 5 (2014) Communiy s wine ourism which exceeds 600,000 ouriss, or ourism in general, over 8 million people a year. The monhs where demand for oleoourism is very low would be in Augus wih jus over 4200 visiors and July wih Based on he resuls obained, i is necessary o perform an analysis of sraegies o promoe oleoourism. 5. STRATEGIES FOR OLIVE OIL TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN ANDALUCIA As Oleoourism has grea poenial for developmen in Andalucía, i is necessary o analyze he sraegies ha he ourism secor could pu ino pracice in he communiy o analyze wha needs o be improved o conver olive oil, of which Spain is a world leader in producion and qualiy, ino a benchmark for culinary ourism. The promoional sraegies of any ourism produc undoubedly require knowledge of he characerisics, circumsances, preferences and needs of he marke, boh from he poin of view of supply and ha of demand. The area mus adap iself by diversifying ourism producs, and obain a specialized supply o mee he needs of changes aking place in consumer habis, which is ulimaely a prioriy when i comes o loyaly and aracing new ourism consumers. The sraegies and measures suggesed will allow he promoion of he area, increasing wealh and aracing new invesmen. 1) Sraegy: Encourage he coordinaion of public and privae insiuions o promoe culinary ourism. This requires promoing coordinaion among he various municipaliies o cooperae in he join disribuion of he aciviies of various insiuions: publishing a caalogue, a websie, ec. Meeings beween public and privae eniies should also be promoed o coordinae he acions o be carried ou o develop oleoourism in Andalucía. 2) Sraegy: Promoe he developmen of ourism as an aciviy inegraing differen businesses in he Andalucían Communiy ha deal wih gasronomic ourism. The proposed acions include: a) Developing ourism cooperaion wih oher aciviies o design an inegraed offering aimed a reducing he seasonaliy of demand. b) Promoing join ourism promoion wih oher companies whose aciviies are relaed o ourism. c) Encouraging and supporing associaive paricipaion in cerain leisure-oriened evens. 3) Sraegy: Encourage collaboraion agreemens beween companies and educaional insiuions o beer coordinae regulaed vocaional educaion o mee he needs of enerprises and insiuions in he ourism secor. The proposed acions include: a) Developing he experise of a professional raining cener and offering pracice raining in businesses in he secor. b) Promoing he implemenaion of echnician cerificaions dedicaed o specializaion in differen aciviies in he area. c) Promoing he developmen of sudies in hospialiy and ourism oriened owards qualificaion requiremens for various aciviies in hese secors. 4) Sraegy: To srenghen publiciy media, informaion, parnerships, ec. o improve he image of oleoourism. Proposed acions include: a) Fomening insrumens o idenify qualiy olive oil producs. b) Fomen insrumens o associae ideas relaing he qualiy of services/qualiy of life and he image of rural Andalucía. 5) Sraegy: To promoe a culure of cooperaion among he inhabians of he area o faciliae fair compeiion, eradicae illegal aciviies and hus improve he social perspecives of he area. Proposed acions include: a) Promoing and supporing legal measures aimed a curbing he impac of underground economy in he area, as is he case of illegal lodging in rural areas. b) Promoing adapaion o qualiy sandards of producs, services, faciliies and equipmen of enerprises and insiuions in he area. c) Designing and enhancing communicaion sraegies ha ransmis o he marke an image of qualiy wih respec o he area. d) Adoping sraegic planning sysems in municipaliies so ha hey can ac in coordinaion wih each oher, seeking o develop he whole region. 6) Sraegy: Removing seasonally linked demand by promoing join ourism packages. Some of he proposed acions include: a) Promoing specializaion and flexible diversificaion in ourism aciviies, especially aking advanage of he differen possibiliies available during each season of he year. b) Promoing he direc sale of olive oil producs, differeniaing each one s naural qualiy and doing so in conjuncion wih oher aciviies. c) Encouraging he creaion of complemenary aciviies, such as culural and gasronomic fesivals. Some of he services and producs offered a mills may include: Tradiional landscapes: olive orchards, mills, visior ceners, oil asings. Exclusive visis: carriages ouring olive orchards, visis o mills Harves program: This is a our of he olive orchards in he company of an agronomis, including oil asing. Pruning program: I is a full day aciviy in he company of an agronomis, and offers oil asings. Courses on local cuisine wih dishes prepared using

6 184 G. Millán e al. / Agriculural Sciences 5 (2014) he characerisic producs of he area where he courses are offered. The adopion of measures o improve he image of he area, promoing paricipaory ourism where visiors can join in and help ou in chores and cusoms and local ways of life, and rescuing radiional aciviies all differeniae he produc and services offered in an area from oher compeing desinaions. Offering oil ourism (he symbiosis beween commercial producion and ourism linking differen agens including farmers, resauraeurs, hoeliers, ec.) becomes he force ha will add value o a new use for oil, ourism. Bu cerainly he mos imporan hing is o coordinae and plan any aciviy and ourism iniiaive ha could flourish and creae economic prosperiy in he area. To do so, i is essenial o esablish he environmen of he place as a ouris aracion, and promoe sable and susainable developmen while increasing local inhabians degrees of involvemen wih ourism. 6. CONCLUSIONS Andalucía, he region ha geographically occupies souhern Spain, dedicaes over 1.5 million hecares o he olive, accouning for 35% of he olives culivaed hroughou he European Union. Also, he olive is a crop of grea social imporance in Andalucía. For many regions, Andalucían olive groves are he only source of direc and indirec revenues for he populaion, and comprise he main economic aciviy in more han 300 municipaliies in Andalucía. Precisely ha heavy reliance on olive growing of so many municipaliies in Andalucía provokes srong levels of uncerainy in families regarding heir income because he quaniy and qualiy of annual producion are never really foreseeable. To cope wih drops in producion and, herefore, in he income of people engaged in agriculure, a complemenary aciviy can be generaed aking advanage of he culuring of olives: using olive pressing mills as a ouris aracion, and foress of millennial olive rees and olive groves ha combine an excellen unapped ourism produc (oleoourism) and based on raw olive oil which is inernaionally well-known no only for is organolepic characerisics bu also for is use in he Medierranean die. One way o develop oleoourism is o marke i, proeced by a designaion of origin ha creaes a ouris roue ha informs abou he qualiy of he oil and is producion process, and provides oil asings. However, creaing a ouris roue does no only consis of seing up signposs; i requires a major invesmen effor on he par of mills o adap faciliies originally designed for indusrial use ino ones for ourism use as well. The adopion of measures o improve he image of he area, promoe paricipaory ourism where visiors can join in and paricipae in asks, cusoms, and he local way of life, and rescue radiional aciviies all give he produc and service offered by he zone a degree of differeniaion from oher compeing desinaion areas. Offering oil ourism as a symbiosis beween producion, markeing and ourism, and uniing he differen agens involved (farmers, resauraeurs, hoeliers, ec.), all creaes he driving force ha will add value o a new use for oil, ourism. The expeced increase in demand for oleoouriss nex year indicaes ha even in imes of crisis, oleoourism has fomened he exising demand for learning, which is an opporuniy ha rural olive zones in Andalucia should no bypass. However, o develop ourism in olive-growing areas, i is necessary o esablish a number of sraegies (promoion, cooperaion, invesmen, ec.). To allow he invesmens made o generae a booming economic prosperiy in he area, i is essenial o ransform he environmen of he place ino a ouris aracion and promoe sable and susainable developmen while increasing he commimen of he local populaion in ourism. REFERENCES [1] Inernaional Olive Council (2012) The world marke in figures. Olivae, 117, [2] Ruiz, I. (2011) Olive oil as a ouris resource: Concepual boundaries. Olivae, 115, [3] Villalba, F., Becerra, F. and Expósio, E. (2009) Aspecos socioeconómicos del aceie de oliva en Andalucía. In Fernández, A. and Segura, A., Eds., El aceie de oliva virgen: Tesoro de Andalucía. Servicio de publicaciones de la Fundación Unicaja, Málaga, [4] Moschini, G. and Hennessy, D.A. (2001) Uncerainy, risk aversion, and risk managemen for agriculural producers. In Gardner, B.L. and Rausser, G.C., Eds., Handbook of Agriculural Economics, 1, Elsevier, [5] Quesada, J.M., Molina, V. and Ruiz, I. (2010) Oleourismo en España: Poencialidad de éxio inernacional en escenarios acuales. Global Conference on Business and Finance Proceedings, 5, [6] Juna de Andalucía (2012) Documeno del foro Europeo de las regiones olivareras. Consejería de Agriculura y Pesca. [7] Lane, B. (2005) Susainable rural ourism sraegies: A ool for developmen and conservaion. Ineramerican Journal of Environmen and Tourism, 1, [8] Bramwell, B. and Lane, B. (1993) Susainable ourism: An evolving global approach. Journal of Susainable Tourism, 1, 1-5. [9] Sharpley, R. (2000) Tourism and susainable developmen: Exploring he heoreical divide. Journal of Susainable Tourism Journal of Susainable Tourism, 8, hp://dx.doi.org/ /

7 G. Millán e al. / Agriculural Sciences 5 (2014) [10] Garrod, B., Wornell, R. and Youell, R. (2006) Re-concepualising rural resources as counryside capial: The case of rural ourism. Journal of Rural Sudies, 22, hp://dx.doi.org/ /j.jrursud [11] Dower, M. (2003) Developing susainable rural ourism. Themaic guide one. European Summer Academy for Susainable Rural Developmen, Ahens. [12] Crosby, A. (1994) Inerpreación ambienal y urismo rural. Cenro Europeo de Formación Ambienal y Turismo, Madrid. [13] Márquez, A.M. and Hernández, M.J. (2001) Cooperación y sociedades cooperaivas: El caso de la Denominación de Origen Sierra Mágina. Revisa de Esudios Cooperaivos, Revesco, 74,