Caribbean Studies- Tourism

Tourism Products of region

1. Native tourism – tourism within a country including day and weekend trips
2. Eco tourism – In Dominica, Belize, Guyana and Suriname, the rainforest and their flora
and fauna cater for the ‘nature lover’.
3. Adventure tourism- In Guyana and Suriname the great rivers offer whitewater rafting
and canoeing and expeditions are mounted into the interior like the Kaieteur Falls in
Guyana. Hunting is growing in importance in Dominica and Mountain climbing in St.
Lucia.
4. Sports Tourism- This is usually associated with sea sports such as Surfing and
Kiteboarding, sailing scuba diving, snorkeling, deep-sea game fishing and power boat
racing.
5. Health Tourism – Typically this was found where people came to bathe in mineral-
charged waters in volcanic areas of St. Lucia, Dominica and Montserrat, thought to be
beneficial. Today international Hotels chains have established spas and health resorts in
the Caribbean to cater for those who want to detoxify, reduce stress and have a Caribbean
vacation at the same time.
6. Enclave Tourism – “The playground of the rice and famous”, and ‘fun in the sum” are
promotional ideas of the Caribbean. All-inclusive Hotels that catering to special
attractions. E.g. Nude beaches, only couples, spring break etc.
7. Festival Tourism – some Caribbean festivals have in recent years been promoted to
attract the extra-regional tourist such as Carnivals, e.g Carnival in T&T, The Tobago Jazz
Festival, the Kadooment in Barbados, St. Lucia Jazz festival, St. Kitts music festival,
Reggae Sunsplash in Jamaica, World Creole Music festival in Dominica and the Maroon
Festival in Carriacou.
8. Cruise -Ship Tourism – Many Countries in the region have docking facilities for the
major cruise ship lines, Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Princess Cruise, because each
vessel carries upwards of 2000 passengers, a rich potential source of foreign exchange

Contributions

 Generation of Income and economic growth through, Foreign exchange earner, Creates
jobs/ employment, Revenue for governments, Creates linkages for industries agro, food,
crafts, cottage, music and cultural, furniture. Tourism can also diversify some economies
like Trinidad and Tobago.
 Development of infrastructure and services: internet communication networks, financial
market development, roads, water electricity, ports.
 Tourism stimulates the development and appreciation of local culture along with an
appreciation of foreign tourists.
 It encourages the development, enhancement and protection of the natural environment.

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 It contributes to the integration and coordination of the region as a whole. The
development of different types of tourism in the region, eco, sports, health, historical etc.
promote an integrated region through the development of the Caribbean Tourism
Organization. (CTO).
 It is an avenue for sustainable development, creates linkages with the economy, socio-
cultural development and the natural environment.

Challenges

 Tourism must be put into a framework of national and regional development. There are
no co ordinate policies to link economic social cultural and environmental development
with an aim to sustainable development and poverty reduction. Tourism has developed in
an ad hoc way as a response to failing primary industries.
 Limited income generation, dependency on foreign institutions; hotels, airlines,
restaurants, cruise ships, tour operators, booking agents. Foreign exchange and profits do
not stay in the Caribbean, commissions alone are earned. So sustainable and human
development and poverty reduction is not being achieved.
 There is little emphasis on pro poor policies and human development policies example in
food, agriculture, forestry and furniture with little promotion of local culture.
 Little appreciation and stimulation for local culture, large import bill as demand for
foreign goods increase and not enough food music and culture are demanded.
Marginalization of local people; foreigners are buying the land for hotels and restricting
use of areas and employing their own people not the locals, Western values are adopted
and adapted rather than local culture.
 Inflation makes life more difficult for locals as all prices increase as foreigners are able to
pay larger sums of money.
 There is the development of social ills STDs and AIDS, prostitution, gambling, drugs and
money laundering, crime.
 Tourism is highly competitive and influenced by global trends so very sensitive to
changes in the global environment; Terrorism, Natural disasters, Global trends for new
destinations, Diseases, political instability, Crime. A threat for one is an opportunity for
another.

 Environmental damage: carrying capacity of the land, creation of waste, consumption of

energy, water, pollution( destruction of the coral reefs) depletion of forests, destruction of
coast lines by large complexes in scenic parts of country.

Caribbean Tourism Organisation CTO

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The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), with headquarters in Barbados and offices in New
York and London, is the Caribbean’s tourism development agency comprising membership of
over 30 countries and territories including Dutch, English, French and Spanish, as well as private
sector allied members. It was formed in 1989.

The CTO’s vision is to position the Caribbean as the most desirable, year round, warm weather
destination by 2017 and our purpose is Leading Sustainable Tourism – One Sea, One Voice, One
Caribbean.

Objectives

The primary objective of the Caribbean Tourism Organization is to provide to and through its
members the services and information necessary for the development of sustainable tourism for
the economic and social benefit of the Caribbean people by:

Activities

 providing an instrument for close collaboration in tourism among the various territories,
countries and other interests concerned;
 developing and promoting regional travel and tourism programs to and within the
Caribbean;
 Tourism marketing – marketing the Caribbean as one destination.
 Research and Information Management to provide relevant up to date information to the
Tourism industry to aid decision making.
 Product development and technical assistance to help develop different aspects of
Tourism and conceptualize a niche tourism product.

 Consultancy services to provide assistance to all stakeholders by providing easy access

to professionals who can satisfy the needs of stakeholders for training, market
development, expansion etc.
 providing a sound body of knowledge on tourism through data collection, collation and
research;
 creating processes and systems for disseminating and sharing tourism information;

 providing training and education for Caribbean nationals and for international travel agents;

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 seeking to maximize the contribution of tourism to the economic development of member
countries and the Caribbean through programs likely to increase foreign exchange earnings,
increase employment, strengthen linkages between tourism and other economic sector like
manufacturing and agriculture, and to reduce leakages from Caribbean economies;

 encouraging coordination with respect to research and planning and the efficient allocation of
local, regional and international resources at both government and non-governmental levels in
tourism development;

 researching and identifying the ecological effects of tourism with a view to recommending and
/or initiating action aimed at minimizing the negative and enhancing the positive effects;

 promoting the consciousness of the need to preserve both the natural and man-made beauty of
the Caribbean environment and demonstrating its direct relationship to the development of an
attractive tourism product;

 developing a tourism product which is essentially Caribbean and which, through maximizing
economic benefits, has minimal adverse social and psychological effects on the integrity of
Caribbean peoples

Stakeholders in the Tourism Industry are:

Hotel Owners need information on arrivals and departures, lengths of stay, origin of tourists, to
see how they can meet the needs of their customers better.

Airline Operators need to plan routes and packages that can help sell the Caribbean as one
destination.

Governments need information on trends in travel so they can support the industry and stimulate
involvement by as many locals as possible, as well as ensure the environment is being protected.

Tour operators need information on competing prices and options for tours as tourism is highly
sensitive to competition.

Achievements of CTO

An annual conference on Tourism is organised for the Caribbean STC

Sponsors trade shows in Europe

Set up chapters in major North American and European markets to gather information and
market the Caribbean.

Maintain multi linguistic web sites promoting Caribbean Tourism

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Advertising the Caribbean as one tourist destination.

TSAFT (Tourism Satellite Account Facilitation Tool) is a new initiative developed by the CTO
that helps tourism policy makers measure the impact of tourism on the economy. It’s an accurate,
efficient and well- coordinated web-based statistical system, the first of its kind in the Caribbean

Sustainable tourism

In the Caribbean, Sustainable Tourism is understood as the optimal use of natural, cultural, social
and financial resources for national development on an equitable and self sustaining basis to
provide a unique visitor experience and an improved quality of life through partnerships among
government, the private sector and communities.

Challenges

Getting support from governments to support the industry in a sustainable way.

2. Changing the public perception of tourism as a valid source of Economic revenue and one of
professional service as opposed to servitude.

3. Maintaining market share in the tourism industry which is highly competitive and sensitive to
dangers like crime and terrorism .

4. Assisting local operators to refine their tourism products so the small scale operators and
locals can benefit from the industry.

DECEMBER 2018: Growth was recorded in seven of the ten destinations reporting arrivals for
the period January to October led by Cayman Islands (11.5%) and followed by Grenada (9.0%),
and the Dominican Republic and Curaçao, each with a 6.2% increase. Declines in arrivals
during this time were registered in the British Virgin Islands (-55.3%), Anguilla (-38.5%), and
Trinidad & Tobago (-5.2%).

TSAFT (Tourism Satellite Account Facilitation Tool) is a new initiative developed by the CTO
that helps tourism policy makers measure the impact of tourism on the economy. It’s an accurate,
efficient and well- coordinated web-based statistical system, the first of its kind in the
Caribbean.

The combined components of this culinary cluster result in a cradle to cradle, sustainable food
system. It fosters a community economy, creates jobs, expands knowledge, and builds the social
capital of the community. In conclusion, private sector leadership and financial commitment and

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public sector support are important catalysts in this model without which efforts to successfully
link sustainable tourism to the farming sector would be challenging at best. It is these catalyzing
actors who set the direction and help keep the infrastructure in place so that the main actors and
organizational types depicted in the model can thrive.