Towards New Ontologies of Caribbean Tourism

Over the Caribbean Top: Community Well-Being and Over-Tourism in Small Island Tourism Economies

“…Whereas tourism specialization is traditionally associated with economic production and growth (Cannonier and Galloway 2019 ; De Vita & Kyaw 2016 ; Marsiglio 2018 ), the adverse externalities thereof are, however, also well established (Daye et al 2008 ; Duval 2004 ; Gossling 2002 ; Hall and Williams 2008 ; McElroy 2003 ; Peterson 2009 ; Wilkinson 1989 ). Furthermore, the relationship between tourism specialization and economic growth is moderated by absorptive capacities (Acemoglu & Robinson 2012 ; Baldacchino 2006 ; Brautigam and Woolcock 2001 ; Peterson et al 2017 ), which describe the optimum level of tourism specialization that can be assimilated and absorbed by an economy before reaching an inflection point after which tourism specialization experiences diminishing returns and negative externalities (De Vita & Kyaw 2016 ; Marsiglio 2018 ).…”

“…Exemplary of this continued tourism rhetoric is the recent Caribbean push towards inclusive tourism development by focusing on the market acceptance of new tourism services and how community tourism can support product differentiation with the ultimate benefit being the creation of a distinctive tourism brand that stimulate economic growth, productivity, and competitiveness (CTO 2019 ). Still couched within a narrow neoliberal tourism agenda, quality of life, shared value, environmental conservation, and community well-being are at best subjugated in national tourism policies that pay little more than lip service to the various principles of inclusiveness, integrity, equity, and sustainability (Daye et al 2008 ; Duval 2004 ; Joppe 2019 ; Peterson 2009 ; Scheyvens and Biddulph 2017 ).…”

“…Reminiscent of Polanyi ( 1944 ) and despite some of the nascent benefits of tourism, Caribbean societies seem to have become largely subservient to international tourism markets, rather than tourism markets fostering societal well-being on Caribbean terms (Duval 2004 ; Pattulo 1996 ; Sheller 2003 ). In fact, community and small business tourism in the Caribbean oftentimes operate within a context where their viability is largely determined by global and national actors (Daye et al 2008 ).…”

“…The enduring fixation on constant increases in tourism volumes and economic value, and the persistent use and promotion of conventional tourism (economic) growth metrics, are testimony to an enduring obsession with physical expansion that has plagued much of the Caribbean; one that is intimately connected to destination politics, power, and political cycles (Acemoglu and Robinson 2012 ; Bishop 2010 ; Cole 2007 ; Daye et al 2008 ; Duval 2004 ; McElroy and De Albuquerque 2002 ; Peterson et al 2017 ). In fact, the political economy of Caribbean island tourism is oftentimes riddled by exclusion and extraction – rather than inclusion and regeneration – as witnessed by several tourism-instigated social disturbances and environmental destruction across the Caribbean since the late 1970’s (Bishop 2010 ).…”

“…In fact, the political economy of Caribbean island tourism is oftentimes riddled by exclusion and extraction – rather than inclusion and regeneration – as witnessed by several tourism-instigated social disturbances and environmental destruction across the Caribbean since the late 1970’s (Bishop 2010 ). Over the past two decades, several studies have cautioned against the tourism sprawl of social exclusion and ecological decay, and the dire implications thereof in the long run (Daye et al 2008 ; Duval 2004 ; Joppe 2019 ; McElroy and De Albuquerque 2002 ; Richter 1994 ).…”