Articles – Jamaica Community Tourism

Developing Community-Based Niche Tourism Products

Sun, 12 Jan 2020 14:01:32 +0000

Niche Marketing Presentation , Countrystyle Tourism Forum 2020 PowerPoint

Cultural Diversity as a Driver for Economic Growth

Sun, 12 Jan 2020 13:51:27 +0000

VAB Cultural Diversity as a Driver for Economic Growth 2020 PowerPoint

Developing Community-Based Niche Tourism Product

Tue, 08 Oct 2019 14:51:19 +0000

Presented by the Countrystyle Community Tourism Network/Villages as Businesses JAMAICA By Diana McIntyre-Pike President/Founder

villagesasbusinesses@yahoo.com

www.accesscommunitytourism.com

Tel: 876-507-6326/488-7207

Today we will EXPLORE

Way Forward- Group Activity

Linkage Opportunities

The Experiences

Best Practices

The Concept

The Market

Benefits

Role

THE CONCEPT

Authentic Community-based experiences targeted to the international and local market, developed and directly driven by and for the sustainable development of the host community and its residents.

THE CONCEPT: Core Principles

Protection of Environment

Cultural Authenticity

Integrated with local industries & businesses

Community Participation & Benefit

The ROLE

Building Participation in Tourism

Products & Experiences Developed by and for the Community

Direct Foreign Exchange Earning Opportunity

Enables Direct Access to International Market

Builds Community BRAND and Civic PRIDE

THE BENEFITS

Access To International Markets

Boosts Local Businesses through Access to Market

Direct Foreign Exchange Earnings

Local Employment & Entrepreneurship

Potential Development of Export Market for local goods

Building of Community Pride

Unveiling Research and Knowledge of Community

Sustaining Heritage & Culture

Sustaining Natural Environment

Limits Rural Push

Funds and Volunteers for Social Development

Cross-Cultural Sharing

The Benefits Lie not only in the OUTCOME but also in the PROCESS

THE MARKET

Based on a Special Interest

Educated

Seeking Escape from Mass/Traditional Tours

Need for Authenticity and Enriched Experience

Responsible Travelers: Socially & Environmentally Conscious

Non-Traditional Channels: Book Direct

LINKAGES

Agriculture
• Farm to Table Cuisine Experiences
• Utilization of produce in all experiences

Manufacturing
• Agro-progressing of local produce for sale
• Furniture and gift items in community accommodation and sale

Creative Industry

• Local Performers and story-tellers utilized in experiences

• Visual art available for sale or on display

Community Projects
• VolunTourism
• Schools and projects as experiences

Experiences- Based on Special Interest

Cultural tourism

Heritage Tourism

Nature Tourism

Eco-Tourism

Church Tourism

Spiritual Tourism

Health & Wellness Tourism

Adventure Tourism

Graveyard Tourism

Ghost Hunting Tourism

Senior Citizen Tourism

Educational Tourism

Post Office Tourism

Cuisine Tourism

Rasta Tourism

Sports Tourism

Caribbean Diaspora Tourism or ROOTS TOURISM Agro-tourism

Volunteer and Outreach Tourism

BEST PRACTICES

Case Studies

JAMAICA – HOME OF COMMUNITY TOURISM

• JAMAICA – HOME OF COMMUNITY TOURISM – ENDORSED BY THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR PEACE THROUGH TOURISM (IIPT)
• The Countrystyle ‘Community Experience’ is offered to local and international tour operators, travel agents and the accommodation sector as required by their clients which will enhance their vacation

SUPPORT FROM THE MINISTRY OF TOURISM

• Jamaica’s Ministry of Tourism, through Permanent Secretary Mrs. Jennifer Griffith, has endorsed the Villages as Businesses Programme, stating that
•
• “It will complement the Government of Jamaica’s emerging thrust towards community-based tourism and encouraging provision of assistance to Countrystyle Community Tourism Network.”

COUNTRYSTYLE VILLAGES AS BUSINESSES

• VILLAGE COMMUNITY EXPERIENCES
• THE COUNTRYSTYLE COMMUNITY TOURISM VILLAGES AS BUSINESSES HOLISTIC NICHE MARKETING PROGRAMME JAMAICA
• The Countrystyle Community Tourism Network Villages as Businesses programme which focuses on the development of community tourism entrepreneurs especially the youth within their
own environment.
• Tourism Entrepreneurship – Sustaining and Transforming Communities

COUNTRYSTYLE VILLAGES AS BUSINESSES

• The Countrystyle Community Tourism Network (CCTN) is a community-based membership organization working in partnership with the Villages As Businesses organization (VAB) which is focusing on developing local communities as sustainable business enterprises offering a range of products and services which will
enable communities to earn income from these businesses that can include offering community experience tours where local and international visitors can experience the lifestyle of the villages, the people, the heritage, the culture, the cuisine and so much more

COUNTRYSTYLE VILLAGES AS BUSINESSES

• CCTN/VAB provides training in basic hospitality skills, small business management, product development, marketing and community governance and facilitates funding support for community project. CCTN has established an independent for profit community tourism training arm for the CCTN/VAB programme –
called the Academy for Community Tourism (ACT) which will network with local and international educational partners for
community tourism entrepreneurship training.

LET’S DO IT IN THE CARIBBEAN.COM

• Let’s Do it in the Caribbean.com is a new online directory that is marketing and promoting Caribbean products and services
locally, regionally and internationally. Its mission is to be the Premier Online Caribbean Directory by uniting Caribbean
countries as one Marketplace.

LET’S DO IT IN THE CARIBBEAN

• This unique portal is the umbrella for over 50 websites that markets and promotes the Caribbean and the Diaspora. A complete
listing of the various categories can be found at <www.LetsDoItInTheCaribbean.com>.

INTERN PROGRAMME WITH LET’S DO IT IN THE CARIBBEAN

BEST PRACTICES CONTD -Case Studies

1. Marvelous Mandeville Tour
2. Beeston Spring Community
3. Medical/Health Tourism- Sharon Parris Chambers
4. Resource Village: Heritage Experience
5. Sandals Foundation: VolunTourism
6. Rastafarian Village: Montego Bay, Jamaica
7. Creative HQ- Mandeville, Jamaica
8. BREDS Treasure Beach

FRAMEWORK for Starting
AUDIT: Identify Community Assets & Resources
•Community Participation
•Research critical
•Identify unique elements of culture, heritage, natural environment that can build an experience or product
TARGET: Identify Target Markets
•Identify best-fit target market that demands experiences potentially on offer
DEVELOP Experience Package based on community assets
•Ensure Carrying Capacity Is Set
•Establish Customer Service, Health & Safety Standards
•Ensure full community Buy In
•Implement necessary training & development in preparation
MARKET: Build Marketing Channels
•Conduct Pilot Experience Runs (SAMPLING)
•Establish Marketing Partnerships (Tour Operators, Local Tourism Agencies)
•Establish Electronic Presence to facilitate Direct Bookings

Villages as Businesses – Sustaining and Enhancing Caribbean Communities through Entrepreneurship

Tue, 08 Oct 2019 14:36:59 +0000

Diana McIntyre-Pike, President of Countrystyle Community Tourism Network and the International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT) Caribbean chapter has announced: THE VILLAGES AS BUSINESSES programme as an economic model for sustaining and enhancing Jamaican and Caribbean communities through Community Tourism. This innovative initiative has as its Patrons: Louis D’Amore, IIPT Founder & President, & Ambassador Aloun Assamba, Jackie Minott CEO Jamaica Standard Products, Spanish Court Hotel Kingston, Goblin Hill Hotel Portland, National Association of Jamaicans and Supportive Organization (NAJASO) Eric Reverence, International Christian Worship Leader, Song writer, Worship, Evangelist and a Radio presenter based in London, UK , Michael Esposito, Certified Professional in Learning and Performance (CPLP) with the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD)

The Villages as Businesses programme was developed to create economic opportunities for community persons interested in investing in their communities by offering community tourism products and attractions that build on unique natural, cultural and human capital.

It aims to market authentic lifestyles, people and experiences. It views the tourism product of the Caribbean as relating not only to specific ‘resort areas’ or traditional tourism establishments, but to the entire country. All participating Villages/Communities are encouraged to stimulate entrepreneurship and identify unique opportunities, such as natural, man-made or traditional cultural practices, within their local environment.

The Caribbean is the most tourism dependent region in the world. If it is not managed in a sustainable way, it will compromise the future. The Village Programme sees communities as destinations essential to the diversification and sustainability of the industry. Community Tourism, the Village Community Experience tours and Homestays respond to a growing demand for more responsible and mutually beneficial relationships between host and visitor. They open up new niches, most notably for the nature-culture-adventure-wellness traveller and allow visitors to enjoy the community lifestyle while on vacation, which is marketed as ‘the community experiences of the Caribbean’. This offers tailor-made packages and tours depending on the visitors’ interest and budget.

IIPT Caribbean/Countrystyle’s vision is thus to see communities as destinations for responsible visitors and for Community Tourism to be the vehicle for sustainable development and prosperity. Villages hold the destiny of the country within them. Every community and every citizen is a potential tourism business partner with the chance to improve earnings and become empowered and educated through involvement in the expanded industry (value chain). However, to become an effective partner, every community and every citizen needs to understand how to value their natural, cultural, heritage and human assets and to add value to them through conservation, creativity and education.

Community tourism and the Villages as Businesses programme therefore, offer a powerful and practical vehicle for training in hospitality skills, small business management, product development and marketing. They also reinforce the need to foster awareness of the value and care of natural, cultural and heritage assets and to protect food security, healthy cuisine and lifestyles focused on wellness. IIPT Caribbean/Countrystyle takes a strongly participatory approach to developing the Villages as Businesses Programme, encouraging citizens to participate in and benefit from their own development by mobilizing their own resources, defining their own needs and making their own decisions about how to meet them.

The objective is to build relationships, mobilize community participation and creativity under an agreed vision. IIPT Caribbean/Countrystyle sees particularly fruitful opportunities in the Villages as Businesses Programme for the youth of the Caribbean in terms of building human capital: building self-esteem, skills and capacity. Then there is the need to form partnerships and international links for sharing solutions that can be translated into ‘on the ground’ implementation.

It is envisaged that when the economics of village living is strong a number of positive things will happen for the community folk, such as: improved living conditions; reduced migration abroad or to larger towns; conservation and enhancement of the value of natural and man-made beauty or cultural heritage; preservation of the environment and the traditions; increased attractiveness of Jamaica and the Caribbean region as a destination for visitors that want unique vacation experiences; increased visitor respect for the traditions of others; and improvement in the overall Jamaican tourism product.

About Countrystyle Community Tourism Network:

Countrystyle Community Tourism Network supports the development of Community Tourism in Jamaica, the Caribbean and internationally, as well as, educates all stakeholders of its importance to the cause of peace, poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Through this approach the organization offers local and foreign visitors diverse ‘community experience’ vacations and tours. The IIPT Caribbean/Countrystyle Tourism Villages as Businesses programme has been offering on a small scale diverse ‘community experience vacations and tours’ over the past 15 years.

About The International Institute for Peace Through Tourism (IIPT):
The International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT) is a not for profit organization dedicated to fostering travel and tourism initiatives that contribute to international understanding and cooperation, an improved quality of environment, the preservation of heritage, and poverty reduction; and through these initiatives, helping to bring about a peaceful and sustainable world. It is founded on a vision of the world’s largest industry, travel and tourism becoming the world’s first global peace industry; and the belief that every traveler is potentially an Ambassador for Peace and the IIPT Caribbean was their first chapter formed with Diana McIntyre-Pike, of the Countrystyle Community Tourism Network, as its President. www.peacetourism.org

Case study: Villages as Businesses, Trinidad and Tobago

Tue, 08 Oct 2019 14:05:03 +0000

The Lopinot Experience Submitted by Michele D. Celestine, The National Trust, Trinidad and Tobago, March 2016, for Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Commerce’s next quarterly publication
A village as a business? Country-style community tourism as a means of sustainable employment? In July, 2015 the sleepy village of Lopinot, nestled in the valley among the foothills of Arouca, east Trinidad, was completely transformed when these questions were answered in the affirmative.
Since the early 1950s, there had been an appeal by the villagers to have the ecologically important valley with its fascinating history declared a “heritage village”. However this declaration was never made until last year when the National Trust listed the 17th Century estate house there, still known as “Count Lopinot’s house”, as a national heritage site, and simultaneously facilitated the five-day “Villages As Businesses” workshop. The training was conducted by regional Countrystyle Community Tourism Consultant, Diana McIntyre-Pike and sponsored by TDC (the Tourism Development Company).
The village is the beneficiary of a vast array of cultural traditions derived from its ethnically diverse population, which today stands at just about 3000 – being mostly comprised of families who have lived there for generations – and an environment that continues to garner the interest of historians, nature lovers and leisure seekers.
No one could believe that the old estate house, with its very basic museum, rustic cocoa drying house, dirt oven, beautifully landscaped grounds and wooden walk-over bridge, is visited by over 100,000 people each year – and that’s just the ones who sign the Guest Book!
Lopinot is in fact able to offer the perfect heritage tourism product. The main natural attraction is the Arouca river flowing right through the middle of the village and passing just beside Count Lopinot’s house. It has huge bathing pools that are flanked by comfortable sheds for cooking and relaxing on the river bank. The lush green valley is hugely popular for bird watching, cave exploration and trail walking, which extends all the way north into Brasso Seco and Blanchisseusse and west to the Caura valley.
The village derives its name from the owner of the once-upon-a-time La Reconnaissance estate. Legend has it that a very cruel Count Joseph Lopinot rode his horse up the river with his 100 African slaves in tow and settled in the area to develop a cocoa and coffee estate. Later on, some sugar cane was also planted and indentured Indians arrived. Eventually, the estate’s labour force included ‘coco panyols’ from Venezuela, augmented by an influx from the nearby Caura valley, for which plans had been drawn up to construct a dam, leading to the resettlement of some of its villagers in Lopinot.
Within the past decade, archaeological digs have revealed that a significant First People’s population inhabited the valley. Numerous artefacts were unearthed and taken abroad for carbon date testing by Dr. Neal Lopinot, archaeological researcher at the Centre for Archaeological
Research at Missouri State University in the USA and a direct descendant of the Count. Professor Lopinot has however, expressed reluctance to return the artefacts to the valley until there is a space properly designed to preserve them.
The village has a festive appeal all year round, but is especially known for its joyful Parang music and tasty Pastelles both during and outside of the Christmas season. During the workshop young Daniella Fuller the widely acclaimed “Pastelle Queen” announced her intention to take Pastelles to the world! The reality is that the labour intensive business of Pastelle making is a means of sustainable employment and its exportation can be a national foreign exchange income earner. Parang has developed into a thriving industry both for the musical entertainer and the craftsman who skillfully produces the associated musical instruments.
Thriving also, is the historical economic mainstay of the valley. Cocoa innovation has spawned a host of entrepreneurs and there are delicacies and desserts made in Lopinot that have won awards internationally and cannot be sampled anywhere else in Trinidad and Tobago. From chocolate Ponche de Crème to dark chocolate dips, chocolate bread pudding and various meats cooked in a secret cocoa sauce recipe, many families have a resident chocolatier and have created their family brand of eating and drinking chocolate delights.
With all of that on offer, the villagers were taught during the workshop to collaborate and provide a series of enjoyable and affordable tour packages combining all aspects of their heritage – built, natural and cultural. Apart from the Count Lopinot house there is a shrine dedicated to La Divina Pastora further up the valley which was carved out of the hillside, as well as the old Anglican Church. Mr. Cyril’s cocoa estate is still operational and dancing the cocoa in an authentic cocoa drying house to live parang music is an unforgettable experience. These tours have been accredited by the Tourism Development Company (TDC) and are now promoted by tour operators locally and abroad with a minimum of six families from within the village benefitting from each tour. The verdant valley has already spawned a few guest houses with restaurants that serve local organic fare and since the workshop ‘home stays’ are being encouraged for those visitors who want a ‘Trini family’ experience, especially at Christmas time. After all, “Trini Christmas is de best”!
A Calendar of Events within the valley has been established by the interim Lopinot Countrystyle Community Tourism Committee chaired by Marcia Guerrerro. Its first project, the “Ole Time Christmas Market” was a huge success after being heavily promoted by local media! The village was filled with enticing smells and sounds for that event. It provided the opportunity to experience the tradition of seeing and smelling ham boiling in a biscuit tin/ pitch oil pan over a fireside fed with cinnamon and bay logs. Many visitors remarked that they had only read or heard about this practice. The dirt oven at the side of the historical house was reactivated on the day and generated hundreds of rolls of delicious baked cassava bread. Market produce, traditional sweets, drinks and craft items were all on sale with continuous live Parang music throughout. The next project, an “Easter Market” was being executed in late March, even as this article was being written, with one of the highlights being cocoa pork – an entire pig lathered in chocolate roasted on an outside fireplace!
A great contributor to the overall success of the initiative has been the gratis advice provided to the Lopint Countrystyle Community Tourism Committee by senior personnel employed with E&Y (formerly Ernst & Young). The Committee is a registered NGO with an account at First Citizens and functions in accordance with clear written guidelines for transparency and accountability. Citizens for Conservation also rendered voluntary assistance in assessing the structural condition of the historic house and provided a Report that enabled TDC to seek an allocation from Central Government to finance the most urgent restoration works.
The Lopinot experience is a viable model which can be replicated throughout Trinidad and Tobago, especially in our rural communities. In creating the concept and brand of Countrystyle Community Tourism Network (CCTN), regional expert Diana McIntyre-Pike identified that “The assessment, development and marketing of natural and cultural community resources can add value to the experience of local and foreign visitors and simultaneously improve the quality of life in communities.”
As this country charts its way through the current dire economic straits, it is timely that the National Trust should initiate such a venture and encourage the creation of heritage tourism products that will sustain rural communities in a holistic manner. The preservation of our historic sites, cultural traditions and peoples’ ability to earn a livelihood are all imperative to our strong national identity and positive psyche.
Let’s support local business. “When our Carnival ends our Community Fun begins”. An increase in “staycations” and growth of the local food production industry can only have a positive result.