Contributed
Mr. Bill Du Toit, right, and Lenora, centre, enjoying fish at Little Ochie.Avia Ustanny, Freelance Writer
COMMUNITY TOURISM promises visitors a fun-filled holiday spent with locals and a back-to-nature binge for envirophiles. It also promises local communities that they will experience direct benefits from sharing with those who come to their doors.
The symbiosis of tourist dollars and local development is the recipe for a reduction in crime that threatens the industry which is the second largest source of our national income, many feel.
Diana McIntyre-Pike, CEO of the Country Style Community Network and mother of the local initiative in community tourism, is hard at work to see that her concept of tourism development continues to fly. She points out that, since September 11, 2001, there has been more interest from visitors who want to assist communities. "Many are valuing the importance of improving the quality of life of those in need and are actively seeking vacations where they can fulfil their mission," she notes. The Sustainable Communities Foundation was created by Pike in Jamaica not long after that the World Tourism Organization, in 1999, developed with over 70 countries the Code of Ethics for Tourism - based on a recognition that many countries successful in tourism, had poor communities. Tourism development and marketing ought to be in the interest of the communities and not only a chosen few, it was noted.
How does community tourism really work? Let's visit Guanaboa Vale, where the concept is apparently on cruise control.
In Guanaboa Vale, principal of the primary school, Fay Sewell, has lead the students into showcasing their historically rich communities to visitors - both local and foreign. Content, Springvale, Cudjo's, Hill Top Mountain are all part of the network. Guanaboa Vale is where Norman Manley, National Hero went to school before going to Smithville. Visitors are taken to the house where he used to live at Belmont and where Bustamante also lived at one time, too. The St. John's Anglican Parish Church dates back to the 16th century is another landmark where some Manleys are buried. Visitors are also taken to the old sugar factory and the Mountain River cave where the Taino Indians lived and where a waterfall is located. "People come to bathe just jump in. It's just divine," the principal said. The mountainous area has a one-hour nature trail.
Guanaboa Vale proper was the first capital of the old parish of St Ann. Visitors are taken to the site of the old courthouse where the first local hanging took place.
Each class at the primary school gets a turn at taking out visitors. "We train the students as guides and they also perform for the visitors. They later write about the experience, the principal reports. "It is a literacy numeracy experience. We can't do it every week, but we go according to bookings," she explains.
Local community members among whom are the parents of the students also benefit. "They take whatever they have for sale and visitors buy. Food on sale include sugar bammies, blue drawers, gizzada, coconut drops, tambrin ball, and jackass corns.
A management committee receives all funds and pays guides, workers and park fees, which are sometimes given back to school. The school also provides a taste of St. Catherine countrystyle lunch, which features ackee and saltfish, run down, dumplings and roasted breadfruit. Guests have been known to abandon their tables for the fireside outside, where they demand roasted breadfruit straight out of the flames.
" Everybody around now is excited," the principal reports. "We are now getting them interested in cleaning up the place. We are now placing environmental clubs in the communities. We clean up and beautify, for ourselves first and then for the tourists." Pike observes: "The concept of tourism fosters opportunities at the community level for local people wishing to participate more fully in the tourist industry. This may range from establishing Bed & Breakfast accommodation in a rural home to creating income - generating tourism opportunities - for an entire village.
