![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/visitcommunities.com\/jamaica\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/INTERNATIONAL-COMMUNITY-TOURISM-CONFERENCE.jpg?resize=1253%2C609\")
<\/h3>\n<\/h3>\nJamaica, W.I. November 12-15, 2018<\/p>\n
The International Institute for Peace Through Tourism (IIPT) International Community Tourism Conference was staged at Mona Visitor\u2019s Lodge, UWI, Mona. The four-day event commemorated 2018 as the \u2018International Year of Community Tourism & Peace\u2019 marking 40 years of Community Tourism.
\nThe IIPT presented the conference in association with Countrystyle Villages as Businesses (CVAB), the University of the West Indies Open Campus, Making Connections Work Ltd UK, Diaspora Connect 2022, YES Foundation, the Caribbean Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Livelihoods, the National Best Communities Foundation and the UWI Mona Tourism Society.
\nThe conference was co-chaired by Masters of Ceremonies Mrs. Gillian Rowlands, Vice President IIPT Caribbean, and Mrs. Valerie Dixon, Vice President CVAB. It was supported by title sponsors Compete Caribbean and the Caribbean Tourism Organization, representing Caribbean governments. On the first day, Dr. Luz Longsworth, UWI Open Campus Pro Vice Chancellor and Principal, welcomed participants with an overview of UWIOC\u2019s formal partnership with CVAB and the important and reciprocal relationships between Community Tourism and accessible education and their joint plans for expansion throughout Jamaica and the Caribbean. Mr. Louis D\u2019Amore, Founder\/President of the IIPT, further set the stage for the conference by presenting IIPT\u2019s history, its expanding influence on tourism\u2019s role and responsibility in peace-making, and its long-standing partnership with Countrystyle\u2019s pioneering of Community Tourism. The keynote speaker on Day 2 was Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture
\nand Fisheries, the Hon. Audley Shaw.
\nLater speakers included Professor Ina Boxill, Chairman CVAB and Head of UWI\u2019s Centre for Tourism and Research, Valerie Veira, Executive Director JBDC, Dr. Kadamawe K\u2019nife, UWI Mona and COMTRUST Patron, Diana McIntyre-Pike, President Countrystyle Community Tourism Network, CVAB and IIPT Caribbean, Alison Kenning Massa, Vice President, CVAB, Dr. Clifton Reid, Chairman, Manchester Peace Coalition (an IIPT endorsed project), Dr. Carolyn Hayle, UWI Mona, Melanie Taylor, President, UWI MonaTourism Society, Mrs. Jacqueline DaCosta, Founder\/Chariman National Best Foundation, Dr. Marcia Brandon, CEO Caribbean Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Livelihoods and Roy Page, CEO, Asterix Tourism Services Ltd. Guest speaker at a welcome reception on the evening of Day 2 was Alexander Pike, General Manager R Hotel Kingston and a promoter of Community Tourism in the city.<\/p>\n
The conference showcased numerous case studies a few of which are mentioned here: Barbados Community Tourism Network (first accredited programme in the Caribbean), the Africa Community
\nTourism Network, Lopinot Countrystyle Tourism Village Trinidad and in Jamaica, Beeston Spring, Treasure Beach (first Village Home of Community Tourism), Resource Village (Marcus Garvey & Taino
\nHeritage), Rastafari Indigenous Village, Trench Town, and Charles Town Maroon Village. Displays of Villages as Businesses products were represented by Orange Bay, Beeston Spring, and TRENCH Town and others which featured Agri-tourism, Arts & Craft, Wellness & Music.
\nStudy tours of Kingston and of Mandeville and Resource Village followed the conclusion of the conference mainly with the Title Sponsors COMPETE CARIBBEAN delegates who were very impressed with the economic development approach showcasing community lifestyle and businesses.
\nThe conference theme \u201cBuilding Communities as Businesses\u201d emphasized the understanding that Community Tourism is not a niche form of tourism or an additional appendage of an industry that benefits a relative few. Rather, it is community development using the numerous niche markets for authentic tourism as the catalyst.
\nThe following summary, reflecting the individual presentations and question and answer sessions, covers the most important and recurring themes, the principal immediate initiatives emerging from the conference, and the wide range of other specific concerns and recommended solutions.<\/p>\n
1. THE NEED FOR GREATER GOVERNMENT SUPPORT.<\/strong> The conference, while highly successful, was notable for the lack of sponsorship by Government and the Tourism Industry. This was Minister Shaw\u2019s response was to tell the attendees \u201c\u2019The journey of a thousand miles begins\u00a0 with the first step.\u2019 Now you need a government that is going to give you the support you need to make Community Tourism successful. Because of the wide range of my portfolio, I will\u00a0 use that as the Minister of Tourism, the Prime Minister, with the Cabinet, that we need a proper well-structured policy on Community Tourism. This is my commitment to you.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n 2. THE IMPORTANCE OF RESETTING MINDSETS.<\/strong><\/p>\n Expanding Community Tourism and optimizing its\u00a0 benefits for individuals, families, communities and return on investment for the national economy requires attention to changing mindsets. Community Tourism training and mentoring: -instills renewed pride in and respect for Jamaican culture, \u201caspects of which are in danger of 3. THE IMPORTANCE OF LINKAGES AND COLLABORATION.<\/strong><\/p>\n The great value of Community Tourism is that because it uses tourism as the catalyst for broad-based community development, it has the potential to advance most, if not all, of the UN\u2019s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. C. PRINCIPAL PROPOSALS<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. STRATEGY RETREAT. <\/strong>Following up his commitment, the conference partners have requested Minister Shaw, with the collaboration of the Minister and Ministry of Tourism, to facilitate a 2. THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE PROJECT with Manchester\/St Elizabeth\/Kingston<\/strong><\/p>\n 3. DIASPORA CONNECT OPTIONS FORUM ACTION PLAN<\/strong><\/p>\n D. SPECIFIC CONCERNS AND RECOMMENDATIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. Improve access to financing for small and micro businesses <\/strong>\u2013 the fastest growing economic sectors. b. Encourage legalization of house and\/or land through titling programme to give would- be borrowers equity and security.<\/p>\n c. Bring back the old Partners\u2019 practice. 2. Improve protection of intellectual property <\/strong>— including patrimony, products, indigenous technologies, stories, etc. 3. Sharpen marketing and products<\/strong><\/p>\n a. Communities wishing to participate in Community Tourism should be encouraged to choose\/select among the 40+ niche markets. ii. Provide a marketing edge \u2013 theme regions or trails linking several villages 4. Increase attention on protecting irreplaceable environmental and productive resources.<\/strong><\/p>\n a. Examples of threats cited: 5. Follow a strategic plan for spreading initiatives into other parishes<\/strong><\/p>\n a. As the Manchester Peace Coalition expands to other parishes, it should include and integral wellness component and recruit One Love Peace Ambassadors <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Building Communities as Businesses NOVEMBER 12-15, 2018 SUMMARY REPORT Jamaica, W.I. November 12-15, 2018 A. INTRODUCTION The International Institute for Peace Through Tourism (IIPT) International Community Tourism Conference was staged at Mona Visitor\u2019s Lodge, UWI, ….<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":156,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[23],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/visitcommunities.com\/jamaica\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/INTERNATIONAL-COMMUNITY-TOURISM-CONFERENCE.jpg?fit=1253%2C609&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/visitcommunities.com\/jamaica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/visitcommunities.com\/jamaica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/visitcommunities.com\/jamaica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visitcommunities.com\/jamaica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visitcommunities.com\/jamaica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/visitcommunities.com\/jamaica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":158,"href":"https:\/\/visitcommunities.com\/jamaica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17\/revisions\/158"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visitcommunities.com\/jamaica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/visitcommunities.com\/jamaica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visitcommunities.com\/jamaica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visitcommunities.com\/jamaica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nnoted by the keynote speaker, the Hon. Audley Shaw, Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries and the IIPT Founder\/President, Dr. Louis D\u2019Amore who met with the
\nMinister of Tourism to encourage more support.
\nSeveral of the key speakers also found the small number of government and tourism industry representatives attending the conference significant, emphasizing that there appears to be a
\nlack of recognition that:
\n– Sustainable Development does not happen at the<\/strong>
\nmacro level.<\/strong> Transformation starts at the urban and
\nrural community level. Communities must have a direct stake in how they operate. ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/visitcommunities.com\/jamaica\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/INTERNATIONAL-COMMUNITY-TOURISM-CONFERENCE.png?resize=259%2C205\")
\n– Social entrepreneurship empowers people to<\/strong>
\nempower themselves.<\/strong> It increases productivity, has
\na huge return on investment and multiplier effects,
\nand saves the costs of programmes to address social dysfunction.
\n– Government needs to support and facilitate more<\/strong>
\nand, wherever feasible, do less, avoiding competition
\nwith grass roots, creative and effective organizations. The growth of Community Tourism could have been much faster with government assistance and partnership.<\/p>\n
\n– helps community members understand the importance of recognizing, protecting and adding value to available natural resources, including Jamaica\u2019s unique environments and genetic
\nresources.
\n– emphasizes the value of social and human capacity: \u201cwe are building people, not buildings.\u201d\u00a0 It embraces the many ways of encouraging a positive attitude in the craftspeople, farmers and other community members who are often held back by low expectations, operate on a short-term, small-scale basis and experience difficulty in accessing financing and markets.<\/p>\n
\nbeing appropriated and diluted.\u201dMore and more visitors desire to experience Jamaica\u2019s authentic \u201cvibes,\u201d increasing the importance of growing Community Tourism in protecting music, dance, stories., cuisine and traditions.
\n– Encourages entrepreneurial as well as visitor satisfaction.
\n– reinforces the value of collaboration and community responsibility, cohesion and peace.<\/p>\n
\n–\u00a0 Speakers noted that the SDGs, while individually valid and admirable, tend to be addressed and monitored in their individual categories. However, the pursuit of Community Tourism
\nprovides opportunities for gaining skills and education, increased family income, improved protection of health, safety and the environment, greater opportunities for gender equality and
\nmore peaceful communities.
\n– It has taken time for tourism, and now especially Community Tourism, to be recognized by major donors as a serious or legitimate area of focus for support and investment. Seeking funding from issue-focused donors requires the ability to present an array of objectives from the point of view of each donor or call.
\n–\u00a0 The breadth of Community Tourism\u2019s effectiveness and influence thus underscores the importance of collaboration \u2013 with government and the tourism industry, between and among
\nentrepreneurs, and within and among communities. \u201cIndividuals can only do so much; together we can do so much more.\u201d Community Tourism\u2019s potential power also underscores the
\nimportance of preventing more \u201cconglomerates taking over tourism and pushing out small\u00a0 businesses and micro-entrepreneurs.\u201d<\/p>\nIt should be noted that the Ministry of Tourism was invited to do a presentation on the LINKAGES HUB which was not done and requests for the presentation has not materialized which could be included in the final report.<\/h4>\n
\nhigh-level one-day retreat among industry, community, academic and business leaders and government (including Transportation, Education and all other related ministries). The purpose
\nis to discuss how to support our commitment to empowering and training farmers, fishermen, craftspeople and others in hospitality and entrepreneurship, from securing funding for CVAB\u2019s
\nnext initiative (training ten communities across Jamaica) to longer-term strategies.<\/p>\n
\na. Protect the capacity of credit unions (which are under pressure).<\/p>\n
\nd. Mentor SMEs in business plan preparation.<\/p>\n
\na. Train entrepreneurs to make \u201cpoor man\u2019s copyright.\u201d
\nb. Protect 800 species of endemic and other valuable plants (genetic resources)
\ni. Emphasize\/require standard community contracts with visitors, researchers
\nii. Record knowledge, oral history, local names etc.
\niii. Make use of JIPO, UWI Herbarium for taxonomies and labeling
\niv. Provide more IP mentoring
\nv. Track and document assets \u2013UWI students through the UWIOC-CVAB\u00a0 partnership?<\/p>\n
\nb. Communities need to be encouraged\/assisted to form linkages, partnerships, clusters and networks. Collaborations:
\ni. Show strength in numbers and passion to hold Government to its commitments<\/p>\n
\niii. Help tours make money and attract the donor community.
\nc. Place greater stress on the importance of story telling and of videos in marketing for the digital age and generations.
\nd. Place emphasis on unique experiences and quality and authentically Jamaican products demanded by the young markets and the massively growing African, Chinese and Indian markets, who respectively focus on history, art and food.
\ne. Assist \/mentor creative entrepreneurs with marketing and especially budgets.
\nf. Focus on assisting small producers to scale up to sustainable levels, especially through support for JBDC which trains, mentors and facilitates in the following areas:
\ni. Teaches business planning and
\nii. Provides label and packaging design and supplies in quantities realistic for small
\nproducers
\niii. Encourages seamstresses to become fashion designers
\niv. Develops group brands to expand access to markets for small producers
\nv. Mentors small producers in financing alternatives to bank loans.<\/p>\n
\ni. bauxite mining to Pedro Plains
\nii. limestone mining to Canoe Valley
\nb. Strengthen the partnership with JOAM:
\ni. Build on the Interconnection of the wellness and agritourism Community Tourism niche markets in particular
\nii. Train communities in organic production and backyard composting
\nc. Concern that with ganja legitimization large companies are pushing out small farmers
\nwho used to keep communities going.
\ni. model to emulate: Westmoreland growers with under 1 acre have formed group and sell under their own brand
\nii. Concern about the burden of regulations and fees on small producers (e.g. tariff on organic seed packet)<\/p>\n
\nb. Develop and emulate the Golden Triangle model which is included in the Diaspora Connect Options Forum report from Jan 3 2019 with Rudi Page CEO Making Connections Work UK\/Diaspora Connect 2022 with Manchester\/St. Elizabeth\/Kingston<\/p>\n