There is support for a Rum Heritage Trail that would tell the story of the historic beverage and its journey in Barbados, the head of the Caribbean’s rum producers group has said.
An initiative is in the works with Barbadian rum producers and distillers that could give rise to the Barbados Rum Heritage Trail.
Chief Executive Officer of the West Indies Rum and Spirits Producers Association (WIRSPA), Vaughn Renwick, said the venture, aimed at celebrating the island’s 300-plus-year history as the birthplace of the spirit, is expected to significantly boost both the rum and tourism industries.
“Spirits tourism is everywhere in the world now,” Renwick told Barbados TODAY. “If you go to Scotland, you talk about whiskey; you go to Kentucky, you talk about bourbon. We (WIRSPA) recently launched something called the Caribbean Rum Trail, and we are building a group of producers, our members, who will collaborate to present a unified tourism product.
“So you can come to Barbados, visit all the distilleries; go on to Saint Lucia, St Vincent, etc. You have a multi-island product, or you can go to one island and get the full experience of that particular island. We’re very, very much interested in building that service.”
A Caribbean Rum Trail, which already has a digital presence, showcases some of the region’s finest distilleries across seven countries, including Barbados. Renwick plans to expand this platform, enhancing its accessibility through mobile media.
“We are building that out,” said the WIRSPA chief. “We want to make that more available through mobile media, to visitors to the islands and to engage tourism representatives – people who sell packages, tour packages and so on – to make sure that we have a product that everybody knows about. The Caribbean is a home of rum and Barbados is a big part of that. We have a great story to tell so we think it is an easy sell, but it has to reach the consumer.”
The importance of branding Barbados as the home of rum was stressed by Prime Minister Mia Mottley at last week’s recommissioning ceremony, at the West Indies Rum Distillery (WIRD), for the Rockley Copper Post Still which was built around 1700. She suggested this branding was crucial in preserving the nation’s unique identity and heritage.
“The story of rum is Barbados,” said the prime minister. “The story of Barbados is equally about rum and cricket and many other things. But if we don’t claim it, and if we don’t brand it, we will leave others to come and do it.”
WIRD chairman Alexandre Gabriel suggested that spirit tourism could be highly lucrative for Barbados. He called for the island’s rum makers to collaborate to promote the island as a premium destination for rum enthusiasts.
“We’re discussing how we do that,” Gabriel said. “It’s the early stage . . . . The other distilleries are doing tours already and doing great, but how can we communicate on this together as a single trail? You know, that would be great . . . spirit tourism, so people know what they’re getting when they come here.
“We (WIRD) are doing this already . . . with influencers. But I am not necessarily talking about that. I’m talking about everyday people from different countries . . . coming to see the distilleries. We want to develop this . . . That’s an opportunity. That’s important . . . We have been lagging and now we can catch up.”
(RG)
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