How This Food Tour Startup Is Revitalizing Puerto Rico's Tourism Industry
Credit: Leslie Padró.
The month of September represented a trying time for many islands in the Caribbean. With the passage of Hurricanes Irma and María, many islands were left partially or completely destroyed. One of the biggest questions many had after the passage of the storms is what would happen to the tourism industry in these places – a question many are still grappling with.
Puerto Rico-based Flavors of San Juan is not only working to bounce back after the hurricanes but is also working to help revitalize the island’s economy after the hurricane. The Food and Culture Tours company was founded in 2009 and was the first food tour in the Caribbean. Five years later its founder, Leslie Padró, realized this concept was scalable and launched Global Flavors, which is responsible for the creation, management and operations of culinary tours throughout the Caribbean. She has since expanded to other islands in the Caribbean such as Sint Maarten/St. Martin and St. Thomas.
Flavors food tours focus on connecting people – residents or visitors – to local restaurant owners, which provides a complete snapshot of a place’s history and culture through food. The concept has been massively successful – they have been awarded various contracts with cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruise Lines and Carnival Cruises. They have also been rated the #1 food tour on TripAdvisor in each location they operate in and have been covered by major media outlets such as CNN, BBC and USA Today.
Flavors food tours focus on connecting people – residents or visitors – to local restaurant owners, which provides a complete snapshot of a place’s history and culture through food. The concept has been massively successful – they have been awarded various contracts with cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruise Lines and Carnival Cruises. They have also been rated the #1 food tour on TripAdvisor in each location they operate in and have been covered by major media outlets such as CNN, BBC and USA Today.
https://youtu.be/9_UrY5FxEPc
I sat down with the founder of Global Flavors to talk about her journey, and specifically, to speak about their plans after the passage of hurricanes Maria and Irma this past September. Padró explains that she started off her career as a journalist at CNN in Atlanta. After years of working in this industry, she burnt out and decided to take a year off and move to Puerto Rico to learn Spanish and freelance.
“I moved to Old San Juan, and I started to do some freelancing and editing for QuePasa, Hotel Intercontinental, Caribbean Business, and I taught creative writing part-time at St. John’s School in Condado," said Padró. "Living in Old San Juan, I fell in love with the people and with the food. I also ended up meeting my now-husband there through a group of friends.”
Padró, a self-proclaimed “Sorta-Rican,” started exploring the restaurant scene with her husband, and because she looks American, tourists would always come up and ask her about which places were best to eat. On one occasion, one of her good friends told her about a food tour company in Seattle and suggested that she should start one in Puerto Rico.
“Food tours in the states were just starting. There was on in Seattle, New York, LA– one in every major city. And I loved the idea because it was like the work I did with journalism: I did a bunch of research, I interviewed historians and architects and learned about the history behind the food. I realized that through food, you could tell the story of a place and connect people.”
Credit: Leslie Padró
The tour features food from restaurants in Old San Juan, pictured during the rebuilding process after Hurricane María.
At first, she started doing food tours part-time, until she eventually quit her day job and took on less freelancing gigs. She still uses her writing skills for marketing material and her company’s websites. Through this work, her team has infused more than a million dollars in the local economy over the last eight years, primarily to local mom and pop shops throughout Old San Juan.
Throughout this journey, Padró’s story has proved itself to be one of resilience and perseverance against adversity. After the passing of Hurricane Irma this past September, over 90% of the restaurants in their network in St. Martin were heavily damaged. Soon after, Hurricane María passed through Puerto Rico, leaving their restaurant owners and tour guides there in dire situations.
“I’ve always said that what we’ve built is Flavors family. So, when this happened, I quickly moved to start a GoFundMe page to help support all my team members. I know that we would all be without income for a while, and this way we could pay something to all our tour guides in all locations despite them not working due to lack of sales. In addition, we’ve applied for an SBA loan to cover some of these expenses, but it’s a process. Right now, I’ve stopped taking a salary to ensure that our tour guides and operations staff are taken care of. We’re all hustling at this point.’’
Credit: Leslie Padró
She explains that one of the trickiest parts of this process is the volatility of the situation, and not knowing what is going to happen. During the storm and in the immediate aftermath, the most challenging part was not being able to reach out to any of the members of the team, particularly in St. Martin and St. Thomas. Padró would watch the news and try to figure out, based on the maps that were shown, whether the restaurants or homes of the people they worked with could have been damaged.
“We love everyone on our team, so it was just hard not to be able to reach out to them, to know that they were okay. So that volatility was difficult. But through this, we realized that community is so crucial. I feel honored and indebted to the people on our team. Often, people go to work for the money, but I have employees telling me 'it's okay if you can't pay me right now, I still want to work with you, the money will come back.' They are the heart of the company.”
It is this charity others have shown Padró that has touched her the most. “Many of my vendors and contractors have put a moratorium on outstanding invoices, which helps a lot. But perhaps the largest charitable surprise was when our ticketing partner, EzTix paid for me to fly to Montreal, Canada and stay four days with my hotel room included so I could attend the annual Global Food Tourism Conference.”
While at the conference, which Padró was also invited to attend for free thanks to its director Shane Kost, Global Flavors was awarded “Brand Champion” for its work in supporting its restaurant partners and staff in the aftermath of a crisis.
Credit: Leslie Padró
Plantain chips are one of the most popular snacks in Puerto Rico and are frequently used for cooking.
Despite the hurdles they face, the Flavors team is hopeful for the future– they don’t plan on giving up and are already starting to run tours again in St. Thomas and San Juan. Despite the lull in sales, Padró and the management team are constantly in contact with their customers and restaurants partners and have reworked their tours to be able to open as soon as possible, working with what they have available. Most of all, Padró wants the world to know that they are ready and open for business.
“Right after both hurricanes passed and took out all three of our islands I was pretty low. But I had to change my attitude. I had to stop saying ‘my company is destroyed,' and instead say it’s not destroyed, it’s in remission, and we will bounce back. I still have a company; a team and we will rise. All of us in the tourism industry will rise. Now, more than ever, we’re ready to work.”
If you’re interested in the work that Global Flavors is doing, help support them after Hurricane María and learn more about their food tours.
@alana_matos811 is an entrepreneur and founder passionate about helping women pursue the startup route.
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