Page 125 - JSIF Magazine Approved-v2-web4

the stage for the inter-agency cooperation that is necessary
to assist communities and local enterprises in creating a
competitive tourism product.
The benefits to communities and the nation as a whole, from
having a vibrant community tourism offering are numerous.
Millions of dollars have so far been invested to equip and
improve infrastructure and to build the capacity of Community
Tourism Enterprises around the island; with the aim of assisting
them to overcome any constraint that may be preventing them
from benefitting from the formal tourism sector. A National
Community Tourism Portal www.MoreToJamaica.com was
launched and made available to licensed Community Tourism
Enterprises. Through REDI, multiple partnerships have been
forged and strengthened with the Jamaica Tourist Board, in
order to develop the Jamaica Community Experiences brand,
which has now been registered with the Jamaica Intellectual
Property Office. All these innovations have assisted in
facilitating the diversification of Jamaica’s tourism product, and
to build resilience and sustainability in the industry; by ensuring
Minister of Tourism Hon. Edmund Bartlett painting a starlight as part of the Treasure Beach Women’s Group Community Tourism Experience.
that the economic benefits of tourism reach local communities
and positively impact more Jamaicans. This coincides with the
national imperative to increase the retention of the tourist dollar which will benefit from having new and exciting Community
within the Jamaican economy. In this regard, JSIF has pioneered
this work with seven pilot Community Tourism Enterprises
across the island, to include: the Rastafari Indigenous Village,
in Irwin, St. James; the Cockpit Country Adventure Tours, in
Trelawny; Ambassabeth/Bowden Pen Farmers Association, in
St. Thomas; Portland Gap Recreation Area, in St. Andrew; the
Salt River Birding & Boat Tours, in Clarendon; the Charles Town
Maroon Council, in Portland, and the Treasure Beach Women’s
Group, in St. Elizabeth. These are great success stories but
there is still room for growth; that will ultimately reach a wide
cross-section of the population and contribute to the alleviation
of poverty.
To date, visitor arrivals to the Community Tourism Enterprises
have increased by 37%, 180 direct jobs have been created and
three of the enterprises received Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB)
licensing during the project with licensing expected for the
others. Licensing allows the JTB to legally represent or engage
the agencies in its marketing campaigns and for example, to
send international media, tour operators and travel agencies on
familiarization tours to their properties.
JSIF intends to continue its work in Community Tourism; by
collaborating with the Tourism Product Development Company,
Tourism Experiences to be added to the Jamaican portfolio,
and also with the Jamaica Tourist Board, which will be able to
provide international marketing.
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