Country : Greece

Organization: Crete's Culinary Sanctuaries

Year the initiative began: 1997

Project Website: www.cookingincrete.com

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Geotourism Challenge Addressed by Entrant:

Quality of tourist experience and educational benefit to tourists, Quality of benefit to residents for the destination, Quality of stewardship of the destination

Organization size:

Small (1 to 100 employees)

Indicate sector in which you principally work:
Tourism-related business

Primary field of activity:

• History
• Living culture
• Nature
• Culinary or agritourism
• Indigenous people
• Adventure
• Education

What is the goal of your innovation? Please describe in one sentence the kind of impact, change, or reform your approach is intended to achieve.

To help protect Crete's culture and nature by forming mutually beneficial partnerships between communities and visitors.

Please write an overview of your project. Include how your approach supports or embodies geotourism or destination stewardship. This text will appear when people scroll over the icon for your entry on the map located on the competition homepage.

CCS serves a dual purpose: To support local preservation work and share those benefits with visitors. During our tailored seminars for small groups, our all-local network of organic farmers, chefs, historians, mountaineers and many others share their knowledge about Crete’s culture and nature. Visitors join us on botanical hikes in the gorgeous countryside, visits to historic sites, organic farms, tranquil villages and rural lodges. Journeys change with the seasons to include artisan production of organic olive oil, wine, cheese, honey, bread and healthy cooking techniques. Naturally, we enjoy the delicious results together. CCS provides a unique alternative to unsustainable (generic/mass) tourism. We act as a gateway for residents to share information about sustainable living practices that benefit the global community. Our seminars offer visitors a rare opportunity to discover the heart of Crete and obtain information that can enrich their lives. CCS is an internationally acclaimed responsible travel program (see The World Tourism Forum for Peace and Sustainable Development, The World Travel and Tourism Council, Islands Magazine Blue List and others). CCS is featured in over 50 media outlets and academic publications. We also organize ecotourism workshops. Our success has encouraged many others to follow our lead.

Explain in detail why your approach is innovative.

Our approach is to celebrate Crete’s heritage with visitors in an ethical and professional manner. Crete’s fascinating history spans over four thousand years. There is much to discover and enjoy. There is much to protect. Generic/mass tourism chips away at a region’s distinctive cultural or natural heritage and the things people cherish the most begin to disappear. CCS is a network of people carrying on traditional trades that protect Crete’s culture and environment. These experienced professionals are investing their time and money to share knowledge that is valuable to the global community. Organic farming is a lifelong commitment, not a 9 to 5 position. The time farmers spend with visitors is a rare privilege. Nikki Rose founded CCS to support interrelated preservation projects: 1) By linking projects together for distinctive seminars; 2) Providing free referral services, links to the media and advice to expand projects; and 3) Sharing seminar revenues (in contrast with standard tourism practices where residents providing crucial professional services earn minimum wages or less). Many travelers and travel agents benefit from community-based preservation work. CCS stresses that communities must benefit the most if we expect them to continue their important work. Public awareness increases.

What is the origin of your innovation? Tell the Changemakers and media communities what prompted you to start this initiative.

Message from CCS Founder Nikki Rose: Cultural-culinary heritage preservation has been my focus for over 20 years. I trained to become a professional chef and have worked with many extraordinarily skilled chefs and organic farmers in the USA and Europe. Meanwhile, the foodservice and agriculture industries were becoming more automated at the expense of quality food, safe food and our environment. In reaction, I began organizing dynamic seminars to rekindle public interest in the culinary arts, featuring organic farmers, artisan producers, certified master chefs from premier establishments. The overwhelming interest and enthusiasm from the public fueled my own. This led me to my family roots in Greece over ten years ago, where sustainable organic farming and artisan food production is still of way of life for more people than we might imagine. These practices are not simply interesting but important to preserve for both residents and the global community. I formed CCS to provide residents specializing in interrelated fields the opportunity to share their knowledge. CCS projects include preservation work and educational programs. To celebrate Crete’s past requires that we work closely with today’s preservationists and entrepreneurs. If we expect Crete’s legacy to be preserved for generations to come, it requires concerted effort. Today, Crete’s Culinary Sanctuaries supports the efforts of over 40 small businesses and individuals working on projects to preserve Crete’s culture and environment. CCS is internationally acclaimed for best practices in responsible travel.

Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers' marketing material.

Nikki Rose is a Greek American professional chef and writer based in Crete. She is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and has worked in the USA and Europe. Rose has organized dynamic cultural-culinary seminars since 1997, featuring renowned specialists. She writes for Slow Food and Culinary Institute of America publications, among others. She is Founder of Crete’s Culinary Sanctuaries Eco-Agritourism Network, an acclaimed responsible travel program. Rose consults on eco-agritourism development and speaks at relevant conferences. Her work is featured in National Geographic publications, NPR, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, and manuals on ecotourism, agritourism and nutrition.

Describe some unique tourist experiences that your approach provides. Be specific; give illustrative examples.

Please see comments by previous seminar attendees on our entry. CCS organizes educational programs. So many people travel to Crete but they rarely meet residents outside of the hospitality industry. They meet taxi drivers, hotel and restaurant staff for brief moments and don't have the resources to discover the heart of Crete. CCS seminar attendees have the opportunity to spend time with residents that make time to share their knowledge about Crete's cultural and natural heritage -- to celebrate the beauty of Crete together far from generic tourism paths. To experience Crete from the ground up with farmers, chefs, historians, mountaineers and many others that are passionate about their heritage is a rare and wonderful opportunity. The friendships developed during our seminars last long after attendees return home -- they may last a lifetime.

What types of partnerships or professional development would be most beneficial in spreading your innovation?

We are open to all collaboration that helps protect culture and nature. Training programs for implementers (communities), outside stakeholders, travel agents and decision makers are crucial to expand responsible travel options anywhere. This includes more eco-building, organic farming and conservation work. We organize study tours covering interrelated topics: sustainable organic agriculture, development and tourism, traditional cuisine and nutrition. We work closely with very supportive advocacy groups, including the World Tourism Forum for Peace and Sustainable Development, ECOCLUB, Sustainable Travel International, WWF-Greece, TIES, and the Pancretan Association.

Describe the degree of success you have had to date. How do you measure, both quantitatively and qualitatively, the impact on sustainability or enhancement of local culture, environment, heritage, or aesthetics? How has it transformed or contributed to the power of place or demonstrated the sustainability of tourism? How does your approach minimize negative impacts?

Over the past decade, CCS has grown from a few people to over 40 small businesses and individuals. There were few agritourism programs and now there are dozens. But not all of them can be categorized as “responsible travel.” The success of CCS has encouraged residents, travelers, travel agents and public agencies to consider the benefits of distinctive educational programs. However, we must also emphasize that our programs directly support communities, in contrast with most standard tourism practices where communities benefit the least. Our efforts have increased the number of visitors to rural communities, the number of projects and media interest. Seminars are for small groups (usually 8 people) and we explore the island on foot most the time (and by bicycle or kayaks during some seminars). We explain to visitors that time spent in a car is time lost in Crete, so we do not plan long road trips that merely offer a blur of local life. We stay in locally-owned rural lodging that is either on or near organic farms and other sites of interest, all of which minimize negative impacts.

In what ways are local residents actively involved in your work, including participation and community input? How has the community responded to or benefited from your approach?

Residents ARE the CCS network. Via the gateway created by CCS Founder, Nikki Rose, residents have hosted many visitors that would not have found them through standard tourism channels. Our professional approach to collaboration, preservation and education emphasizes that this work is very valuable to travelers. We are working together and programs have expanded significantly over the years.

How does your program promote traveler enthusiasm, satisfaction, and engagement with the locale?

CCS focuses on all that Crete has to offer: history, rural life, nature, organic agriculture and excellent fresh and local healthy cuisine. Our seminars benefit food and culture enthusiasts and professional researchers alike. We provide information that cannot be acquired in a classroom or library. Visitors have the opportunity to participate in local life and acquire information about sustainable living practices and healthy cuisine that can enrich their lives.

Describe how your work helps travelers and local residents better understand the value of the area's cultural and natural heritage, and educates them on local environmental issues.

See above and our website www.cookingincrete.com. Learning by doing works best in our opinion. All sustainable innovations require patrons (visitors and advocates).

How is your initiative currently financed? If available, provide information on your finances and organization that could help others. Please list: Annual budget, annual revenue generated, size of part-time, full-time and volunteer staff.

CCS programs are financed solely by Founder & Director, Nikki Rose. Seminar fees are reasonable and therefore revenue is minimal for the director, as the program is designed to support local communities. We have one excellent volunteer handling administrative work. Most people in our network do not work in tourism at all. They have their own businesses to run in addition to their preservation work. They participate in seminars whenever they choose.

Is your initiative financially and organizationally sustainable? If not, what is required to make it so? Is there a potential demand for your innovation?

CCS is an established gateway for local preservation work. We provide tangible resources to help sustain this work. We provide comprehensive information about Crete’s heritage (see our website). Few people in the network plan to be full-time employees in tourism. Preservation work requires activism and educational programs. Demand continues to grow, which helps to sustain our collective and individual projects. There is great demand for CCS seminars and similar programs around the world. Our goal is to establish a base for our work to supply increased demand.

What are the main barriers you encounter in managing, implementing, or replicating your innovation? What barriers keep your program from having greater impact?

The concept of linking cultural-environmental preservation with tourism is taking off. But all stakeholders (public and private entities, travelers and the media) need to participate in order to make it soar. Some entrepreneurs offer simulations of local life that do not benefit communities or travelers. Just because we visit a foreign country does not mean that residents can drop what they are doing to entertain us for free (any more than we would in our neighborhoods). Eco-agritourism is a business run by professionals working hard to preserve their regions and providing valuable services to the global community. There are tremendous differences between CCS seminars and generic travel packages that provide little more than transportation and accommodation. As long as most tourism providers and media outlets instill the message that “cheap travel deals are the way of the world,” people will never be aware of the true cost of travel, including the social and environmental impacts. CCS programs continue to be replicated but we cannot confirm that all other programs are ethically run. Responsible travel can improve our quality of life and environment. It can create meaningful careers for generations to come. These initiatives can only be sustained by patrons.

What is your plan to expand or further develop your approach? Please indicate where/how you would like to grow or enhance your innovation, or have others do so.

CCS programs are financed solely by Founder & Director, Nikki Rose. Seminar fees are reasonable and therefore revenue is minimal for the director, as the program is designed to support local communities. We have one excellent volunteer handling administrative work. Most people in our network do not work in tourism at all. They have their own businesses to run in addition to their preservation work. They participate in seminars whenever they choose.

Contact Information
Ms. Nikki Rose
Founder and Director
Crete's Culinary Sanctuaries
Crete's Culinary Sanctuaries
info@cookingincrete.com