{"id":83,"date":"2019-10-08T15:50:13","date_gmt":"2019-10-08T15:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/visitcommunities.com\/jamaica\/?p=83"},"modified":"2019-10-11T13:25:51","modified_gmt":"2019-10-11T13:25:51","slug":"6th-biennial-jamaica-diaspora-conference-june-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/visitcommunities.com\/jamaica\/6th-biennial-jamaica-diaspora-conference-june-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"6th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference, June 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

DEVELOPING ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION IN COMMUNITY-BASED TOURISM \u2013 through COUNTRYSTYLE VILLAGES AS BUSINESSES<\/strong><\/p>\n

Diana McIntyre-Pike, President\/Founder, Countrystyle Community Tourism Network\/Villages As Businesses and President, International Institute For Peace Through Tourism (IIPT) Caribbean Chapter <\/strong><\/p>\n

ABSTRACT <\/strong><\/p>\n

Definition of Community Tourism<\/strong><\/p>\n

Community Tourism was developed to assist communities in realizing the direct benefits of tourism in their own environment.\u00a0 Community Tourism is holistic.\u00a0 It is not a niche form of tourism but provides for every niche market in an unconventional model.\u00a0 It depends on the appreciation and quality of indigenous resources to generate income and provides a tangible incentive and practical vehicle for community development.<\/p>\n

At the first International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT) Caribbean Conference, held in Montego Bay in 2003, it was agreed that \u201ccommunity tourism is community development through tourism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Objective and Purpose of the Villages as Businesses programme<\/strong><\/p>\n

The objective and purpose\u00a0of the Countrystyle\u00a0Villages as Businesses programme\u00a0reside in the fundamental vision of Countrystyle, which is to empower and develop communities on a sustainable basis by helping them realise their natural culture, talents, passions\u00a0and potential, and dynamically packaging, marketing and exposing each individual community to the world as a unique destination (product) within their general region.<\/p>\n

The Mission of CCTN’s Villages As Businesses programme<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Mission is to support the development of community tourism in Jamaica and internationally and to educate all stakeholders of its importance to the cause of peace, poverty alleviation and sustainable development and to offer local and foreign visitors diverse \u2018community experience\u2019 vacations and tours.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

How we Work<\/strong><\/p>\n

We achieve success with our member communities by building relationships, mobilizing community participation and sharing a vision that encourages creativity and collaboration, motivates everyone to seek economic opportunities within their local environment and stimulates entrepreneurship.\u00a0 We encourage communities to see visitor interest and expenditure as a catalyst for growing the broader economic activity, rather than a new source of revenue to be relied on.<\/p>\n

While we discourage the creation of inauthentic attractions, we seek to diversify the tourism products and services we offer, and through this diversification, enhance our ability to apply to the varying market niches in the wide tourism marketplace.<\/p>\n

Three Guiding Principles of the Countrystyle Villages As Businesses programme<\/strong><\/p>\n

1)\u00a0\u00a0 Think Globally, Act Locally<\/strong> \u2013 with our distinct local flavours and cultures, we can create products which can be marketed throughout Jamaica, the Caribbean and the rest of the world. An example is the idea of \u2018community theatres\u2019 featuring the local talents while teaching community values and resources to both communities and visitors<\/p>\n

2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Independence and Creativity<\/strong> \u2013 local citizens can and should decide for themselves what their Village product, theme or niche market should be. \u00a0A village could choose three products, or two villages could combine to produce a single product.\u00a0 While government can provide technical support, marketing and other assistance, it needs to facilitate individual plans rather than competing or requiring standardization.<\/p>\n

3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fostering Human Resources<\/strong> \u2013 the ultimate goal of this movement is the development of human resources.\u00a0 No success can come about without visionary local leaders.\u00a0 It is important to develop a local community that responds creatively when challenged with difficult times.<\/p>\n

The Community Experience Tours\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

The Countrystyle Community Tourism Network (CCTN) has successfully developed a dynamic marketing theme for communities The Community Experience offers local and foreign visitors a diverse vacation and tour experience anywhere in the Caribbean which promotes its nature, heritage, culture, music, cuisine and entertainment.\u00a0 CCTN helps villages design and package the Community Experience for tour operators, travel agents and visitors.\u00a0 The packages take into consideration visitor interests and budgets and can include airport transfers, accommodation, meals, tours or vacations, community\/host guide service, escort\/guide rent-a-car and bus transportation.<\/p>\n

Villages gain income directly from visitors through tours, homestay accommodation, entertainment and meals.\u00a0\u00a0 But they also benefit because the tours include community businesses as interesting things to do and support, adding to the diverse experience provided to local and international visitors.<\/p>\n

Our tours are demonstrating a growing market for authentic community experiences, even among the guests of large resort hotels.\u00a0 Visitors also welcome the opportunity to assist communities by participating in our “Adopt a Village” and “Pick a Project’ programmes and contributing to COMTRUST, our community tourism development Trust .<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n

While community tourism has much to offer a local population, it is essential that the potential of the situation is carefully analysed and evaluated before embarking on the development of a significant project or promoting a community-based tourism strategy.<\/p>\n

The Countrystyle Community Tourism Network’s Villages As Businesses programme will ensure that the villages are developed in a sustainable way to protect the natural and cultural environment and improve the quality of its citizens through community tourism.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DEVELOPING ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION IN COMMUNITY-BASED TOURISM \u2013 through COUNTRYSTYLE VILLAGES AS BUSINESSES Diana McIntyre-Pike, President\/Founder, Countrystyle Community Tourism Network\/Villages As Businesses and President, International Institute For Peace Through Tourism (IIPT) Caribbean Chapter ABSTRACT Definition ….<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":99,"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":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/visitcommunities.com\/jamaica\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/6th-Biennial-Jamaica-Diaspora-Conference-June-2015.jpg?fit=921%2C436&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/visitcommunities.com\/jamaica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83"}],"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=83"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/visitcommunities.com\/jamaica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84,"href":"https:\/\/visitcommunities.com\/jamaica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83\/revisions\/84"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visitcommunities.com\/jamaica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/visitcommunities.com\/jamaica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visitcommunities.com\/jamaica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visitcommunities.com\/jamaica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}