The Caribbean’s Geotourism Potential and Challenges: A Focus on Two Islands in the Region

Abstract

Geotourism is a relatively new concept in the tourism industry, a concept which apparently has not yet been formally embraced by Caribbean destinations. This paper, based primarily on a literature review supplemented by the first-hand knowledge of the author, who served for over a decade in the natural resource management and tourism sectors in the region, identifies some of the geotourism assets and assesses the geotourism potential of two selected Caribbean islands, namely the Commonwealth of Dominica and St. Lucia. Indications are that the islands of the region have outstanding geological formations, dormant and active volcanic zones and associated geomorphological features, and breath-taking terrestrial and marine landscapes, including deep river gorges and tall mountains, and beautiful beaches, which together constitute important geotourism assets. Currently, these resources are marketed and promoted as part of the region’s nature tourism attractions. The feasibility of incorporating geotourism as a component of this overall nature tourism thrust is explored in this paper. As a follow-up to this study a survey of tourism officials, natural resource professionals, and selected scientists of the region is proposed for the purpose of identifying the reasons and constraints preventing the Caribbean region from formally embracing geotourism, developing and promoting the geotourism resources of the region as a unique component of the overall tourism product.

Developing a scale for measuring influential factors towards geotourism development

“…This is consistent with the findings of Ginting and Febriand (2018:2) that show 'geotourism bringing benefits to the tourist and local people' where tourists obtain a unique travel experience and local people acquire economic benefits from tourist visits (Boley et al 2011). The factors that can hinder the development of geotourism were impacts on nature and impacts on human that corroborate the results by Christian (2018) and Reynard and Giusti (2018).…”

Challenges of Geotourism in South Africa: A Case Study of the Kruger National Park

“…Although many participants noted that they do not see any negative impacts relating to geotourism because it is not destructive, unfortunately, natural processes such as floods and climate change can damage geoheritage sites, thereby limiting geotourism development. This supports views that natural events such as floods can damage tourism activities, as supported by Christian [89] and CNN [90]. In addition, although many participants indicated that they do not see the negative impacts that geotourism can bring to the local communities, according to participant TM, an NDT government official, "Because communities are not aware of these sites, therefore, they don't see any value.…”

Geotourism

“…The feasibility of incorporating geotourism as a component of Caribbean islands' overall drive towards nature tourism is explored in Christian's [16] literature review, which focuses on the geotourism potential of two Caribbean islands, the Commonwealth of Dominica and St. Lucia. He seeks to identify and describe their primary geotourism assets and presents a framework for a regional geotourism development strategy.…”