Sustainable tourism development in the Caribbean: practical challenges

The 2003 Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Trends (WHATT) roundtable discussion, held at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica, focused on the issues affecting the development of tourism in the Caribbean. Fourteen industry practitioners and academics from the hospitality and tourism sector discussed the definitions of “sustainable tourism development” and debated the key development issues in Caribbean tourism and related education and research needs. The meeting agreed that there was a lack of research and intellectual focus on Caribbean tourism, although many Caribbean governments are in clear need of policy guidance. The meeting therefore identified a few achievable action points with the aim of addressing this problem.