Lessons learned from the tea farmers exchange

The activities undertaken during the Thai-Japanese tea farmer exchange based on the concept of rural-urban-rural interaction in green tourism was of benefit to both groups. In Tawara, members of the host communityinvolved in green tourism-related enterprises, such as the farmer restaurant, not only received income from the Thai tourists but established foundations for an international partnership in the tea industry and a network of tea cultural education. Equally, feedback on the program reflected the lessons by the visitors from Huey Nam Guen village with regards to both tea production and tea tourism. More specifically, on their return, the representatives of the Thai tea farmers shared their learning experiences from their visit to Tawara with community members in Thailand, with about 100 villagers attending the feedback session. Four proposed development issues on tea and tourism were highlighted:

i The creation of tea cuisine served in farmer restaurants or homestays.

ii The development of a tea trail for learning about tea culture that links agriculture to gastronomy.

iii The renovation of a traditional farmhouse and tea factory to be used for promoting tea culture through, for example, the development of a tea museum.

iv The building of a community farm shop to sell tea products and other agricultural commodities.

Sustaining farming communities through international exchanges in green tourism

Based upon the framework of Japanese green tourism, conceptualized in Figure 8.1, the interaction of tourists and local communities brings benefit to both urban and rural markets resulting from the networks of education and business. As noted above, in the case of the tea farmer exchange in Tawara, four development guidelines for Huey Nam Guen village can be attributed to such networks.

Education networks

The transfer of knowledge and experience through international exchange activities supports and develops the knowledge and culture of farming communities. For example, in Huey Nam Guen village, the creation of a tea cuisine experience in farmers' restaurants or homestays encourages the villagers to apply their knowledge of tea to food and health benefits, whist the development of the tea trail requires the acquisition of expertise and experience in ecotourism management. Similarly, renovating the traditional farmhouse and tea factory as a tea museum requires knowledge and understanding of the principle of interpretation, whilst building a community farm shop for selling tea products and other agricultural commodities will require farmers to think about marketing strategies. As such knowledge and experience is developed, the local community will acquire the capacity to sustain and build its economy and culture. At the same time, developing tea tourism stimulates the urban

International exchange in tea tourism 151 market, in a sense establishing an agricultural partnership through tourism. More generally, international exchange also encourages local communities to enhance their understanding of global culture, and offers the opportunity to acquire foreign language skills that give them entry into a variety of jobs and economic sectors (LaPan, 2017).

Business networks

In addition to supporting the knowledge and culture of the farming community, international exchange through green tourism also strengthens the local economy through the transfer of agricultural commodities. That is, in terms of business networks, the development of green tourism enables farmers to establish appropriate prices for farm products independent of the influence of urban markets. In other words, the prices they charge are determined by rural markets (Ohe, 2014). Also, green tourism offers a variety of both distribution channels for agricultural commodities and sources of non-farm income generated from the rural market that is based on the four elements of rurality: rural spaces, rural communities, rural products and services and rural activities (Khaokhrueamuang, 2014), as seen in tea tourism. For the tea industry, the element of rurality has been modified by the process of tea cultural commodification. Thus, the tea-related revenue is attributed to tea spaces, tea communities, tea products and services and tea-related activities in the rural market which can be seen through the linkages with community farm shops. Farm shops are not only places located in the communities and farming spaces, but they also promote local food development and innovation which, in turn, supports rural economies and provides knowledge exchange in the form of information on urban customer expectations (Slocum & Curtis, 2017).

Furthermore, the rural spaces and rural communities can be developed and leveraged to become tourist shopping villages (Murphy et al., 2011), providing tourists with the opportunity to purchase farming products, handicrafts and farm services such as farm stays and farm-related tourism tour program or activities. For example, the tea-growing community of Tawara could develop as the tea shopping village, recreating its community farm shops as multifunction outlets providing not only shopping opportunities but also the exchange of the tea culture and knowledge.

In addition, the development of green tourism can encourage partnerships between urban and rural businesses. This contribution conforms with the three primary stakeholders in agritourism systems identified by Sonnino (2004), namely, agritourism providers, destination marketing organizations (DM0) and agritourists. Agritourism providers in the city work directly with rural tourism businesses, whilst the DM0 plays an important role in marketing and connecting international agritourists with agritourism providers and rural communities. In the case of green tourism and tea villages, the DM0 as a reservation centre can facilitate foreign tourists by coordinating with a travelagent offered an exchange tour program with tea farmers. This is considered as an example of a ‘tourism partnership’ between urban and rural economies or ‘collaboration’ between urban and rural contexts (Boluk, 2017).

Green tourism and the SDGs

The interaction inherent in green tourism based on the four elements of tea cultural commodification represents a means of revitalizing and sustaining the farming community. As such, it potentially contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Over the next decade, countries will mobilize efforts to end poverty and hunger with strategies to build economic prosperity. At the same time, they will address a range of social needs including education, health job creation and social and environmental protection while combatting inequality and promoting peace. The concept of green tourism, therefore, offers a specific approach to the design of tourism such that it can contribute to the SDGs. In advocating sustainable development, the SDGs refer to the five ‘Ps’: people, peace, partnership, planet and prosperity, to which green tourism also contributes:

• • People: green tourism fulfils the wishes of guests to support rural communities without ignoring the needs or interests of the locals, such as through farm volunteering.
• • Peace: green tourism avoids conflict and social tension; rather, it contributes to solutions through the participation of the locals in the exchange of knowledge and experience.
• • Partnership: green tourism contributes to a network of education and business partnerships, providing tourists with space for promoting intercultural learning.
• • Planet: green tourism reduces negative impacts on the environment and contributes to the conservation of biodiversity through the promotion of sustainable agriculture such as organic farming.
• • Prosperity: green tourism increases the social and economic benefits for the local people from the transfer of goods, people and wisdom.