Rum trail initiative aims to boost regional tourism

A major push to position Caribbean rum as a central attraction for visitors is underway, with the West Indies Rum and Spirits Association (WIRSPA) expanding its multi-country rum trail to highlight the region’s rich heritage and drive tourism across CARICOM, the rum industry’s chief spokesman said Monday.

Vaughn Renwick, chief executive of WIRSPA, revealed that the organisation is currently expanding its Caribbean Rum Trail, a multi-country experience designed to connect visitors with the rich rum-making heritage of each CARICOM member state.

“We have recently developed something called the Caribbean Rum Trail, which identifies, in each of the CARICOM countries, all of the people who produce rum, all of the rum companies, but it also starts to tell you a little bit more about where you could go to experience the products,” he said. “So, rum shops or restaurants, things like that.”

The goal, he said, is to elevate the region’s rum industry as a central part of the tourism experience, particularly for travellers who see the Caribbean as the birthplace of rum.

Renwick said: “We think that when people come to a Caribbean country for the first time – most people see the Caribbean as the home of rum – they want to experience the local products, so experiencing rum at the origin is one of those experiences. We think there is a lot of value to bring to tourism by exposing the rum heritage and the connection to sugar as well, when people come to visit, whether it is Barbados, Grenada or Saint Lucia. That is something that we are working on, which I think is quite interesting.”

The multimillion-dollar Caribbean rum industry supports thousands of jobs directly and indirectly across CARICOM, from agriculture and manufacturing to hospitality and retail.

Countries such as Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago are internationally known for their premium and super-premium rums, according to Renwick, which are often aged in oak barrels and crafted using traditional techniques handed down through generations.

Rum’s true power, Renwick said, lies not just in its flavour, but in the stories it tells that will interest visitors.

“We are building online content for the Caribbean Rum Trail, which will feature all of our distilleries,” he added. “When we have that content together, we envisage that it will probably be available through an app. So, if a visitor comes to the island or is planning to come to the Caribbean, they can go into the app and see, in each country, what there is to experience. You could plan a multi-country trip or, if you come to one country such as Barbados, you see all the places where you can go and have these experiences. So, it is about building that content first and then getting it delivered to visitors.” (SB)