Regional Tourism at the Cross-Roads: Perspectives of Caribbean Tourism Organization’s Stakeholders

Abstract

The Caribbean has experienced considerable fluctuations with many of the small island-nations of the Region being highly vulnerable to socio-political, environmental and economic changes. The Caribbean Tourism Association (CTO) contends that this Region is highly dependent on tourism, possibly more than any other region in the world, but globalization has left the countries of the Region with limited economic alternatives. The result is that tourism has emerged as the largest employer and the foremost foreign exchange earner in the Region. This survey research study, data from which were analyzed with SPSS for Windows, explored three research questions and identified the Region's strengths, assets and issues as perceived by stakeholders at the CTO's 2010 Sustainable Tourism Conference. People, culture and favorable weather were identified as strengths. However, critical issues such the absence of clear political and policy directions, loss of biodiversity and natural resources, need for more efficient zoning and land use planning for integrated tourism development, and insufficient stakeholder involvement were characterized as challenges that must be addressed. Recommendations are proposed.

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“…Even in turbulent economic times these segments tend to prosper and grow while others struggle. People, culture and favorable weather have long been the greatest strengths of the region, a finding that was again validated recently by the Caribbean Tourism Organization's Conference on Sustainable Development (Herbert & Christian, 2014). Food remains a critical component of local cultures even though much of the value embedded in local food and the potential for social and economic benefits from the use of local food is being ignored.…”

“…The Caribbean region has become the world's most tourism dependent region (Clayton, 2009;Herbert & Christian, 2014) and the sector is now the main source of foreign exchange and employment (Clayton, 2009). After the region's colonial era, characterized by a mono-crop agricultural export system, the islands of the Caribbean turned to tourism as an economic development strategy (Conway, 2004;.…”

“…The region's financial sector has been pleading with governments to reevaluate their approach to tourism since it holds much of the government debts (Harford, 2014). Poverty and unemployment in the region continue to rise (Herbert & Christian, 2014) together with foreign exchange leakages since as much as 85% of tourist dollars are spent on imports to support the needs of the visiting populations in the region's most tourism dependent countries (Clayton & Karagiannis, 2008, p. 196).…”

“…Food remains a critical component of local cultures even though much of the value embedded in local food and the potential for social and economic benefits from the use of local food is being ignored. Despite the current challenges with tourism development in the region, this sector remains a key economic pillar and is still in a position to contribute positively to sustainable development (Herbert & Christian, 2014). The opportunities lie in the region's ability to harness its cultural, natural and human assets.…”