Good Practices in Tourism Awareness Programmes – Raising the Tourism Sector’S Profile and Status in Caribbean Countries
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COMPETING WITH THE BEST Good Practices in Tourism Awareness Programmes – Raising the Tourism Sector’s Profile and Status in Caribbean Countries - TABLE OF CONTENTS Good Practices in Tourism Awareness Programmes Introduction.............................................................................................................1 Rationale .................................................................................................................1 The Process .............................................................................................................1 A Summary of Results – Country Information & Results.............................................3 Country Profiles Antigua & Barbuda.................................................................................................6 Aruba.......................................................................................................................8 The Bahamas.........................................................................................................11 Barbados ...............................................................................................................14 Belize.....................................................................................................................17 Bonaire..................................................................................................................19 British Virgin Islands ............................................................................................21 Curaçao.................................................................................................................24 Grenada.................................................................................................................27 Jamaica .................................................................................................................29 Montserrat.............................................................................................................36 Nevis......................................................................................................................38 Puerto Rico............................................................................................................41 St. Kitts ..................................................................................................................48 St. Vincent & The Grenadines...............................................................................49 Suriname ...............................................................................................................51 Trinidad & Tobago ...............................................................................................54 Turks & Caicos .....................................................................................................55 Competing With the Best Good Practices in Tourism Awareness Programmes – Raising the Tourism Sector’s Profile and Status in Caribbean Countries - Good Practices in Tourism Awareness Programmes – Raising the Tourism Sector’s Profile and Status in Caribbean Countries - INTRODUCTION Many countries throughout the Caribbean region have a heavy reliance on tourism, which is one of the main economic sectors and also a major source of revenue, foreign exchange earnings, jobs and investment. In recognition of the importance of tourism to Caribbean economies many countries have developed and implemented tourism awareness programmes, targeted at different stakeholder groups in the society. These programmes assist in raising the tourism sector’s profile and status at the national level and are typically aimed at meeting a variety of stated goals, including creating a better understanding of tourism and its contribution to the national economy, attracting greater numbers of high achievers into the tourism sector, educating teachers and students about the importance of tourism and creating a greater social acceptance of tourism. RATIONALE The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), through its Human Resources Department, has interacted with many countries in the region through its own regional tourism awareness initiatives. These initiatives include the “Making Waves’ bulletin (9-11 year olds), which is published twice yearly and shared electronically on CTO’s corporate website (www.onecaribbean.org) with all of the member countries; the Condé Nast essay competition (9-11 year olds); the Travel & Leisure Tourism Youth Congress (for 14-17 year olds); the “In My View” National Geographic Traveler photography competition for 12-17 year olds and the Rising Star Contest with Bon Apetit, an essay competition for students studying culinary arts. In its interactions with the countries the department has recognized that there are numerous national tourism awareness programmes, implemented by both the tourism public and private sectors of the Caribbean, which have been able to achieve the goals of raising the profile of the sector and educating various publics about the positive contributions of this sector. However, many of these programmes are only known within the confines of the specific countries implementing the programme, and much useful information and learning is thus constrained and not widely known. THE PROCESS The CTO, in keeping with its commitment to showcase good practices in all aspects of tourism, therefore decided to collect and share information on successful national tourism awareness programmes being implemented in CTO member countries. CTO’s data collection process involved the dissemination of letters and data collection forms seeking the active involvement of Ministries of Tourism, Boards of Tourism and national Hotel and Tourism Associations throughout the Caribbean. They were required to submit the relevant data, which included the following information: Brief description of programme Target Group(s) Good Practices in Tourism Awareness Programmes 1 How long has the programme been active How has the programme been marketed Feedback/Key Results Challenges/ Areas for improvement The following is a summary table listing the countries which responded positively to the request for information on their national tourism awareness programmes, the name of the programme, implementation agency, date when the programme started and target group(s). Good Practices in Tourism Awareness Programmes 2 A SUMMARY OF RESULTS COUNTRY INFORMATION & RESULTS NAME OF NAME OF DATE COUNTRY IMPLEMENTATION TARGET GROUPS PROGRAMME(S) IMPLEMENTED AGENCY ANTIGUA & Antigua/Barbuda Tourism Ministry of Tourism 2006 Secondary school BARBUDA Cadet Corps. students (15-18 year olds) Ministry of Tourism September 2006 Tourism service ARUBA Aruba Promises And Transportation Workers, educators, students, government workers etc. Bahamas Hotel 1992 & was re- High School BAHAMAS H.O.T.E.L. Adopt-a- Association (BHA)/ branded in Students School Program Ministry of Tourism 1998. Ministry of Tourism General Public, BARBADOS Tourism Education Primary & Secondary Awareness and Me Students, Teachers, (TEAM) Guidance Counsellors Public Sector Officers Industry Frontline Personnel & Community Groups Public Awareness Students from the Belize Tourism BELIZE Presentation Programme Primary, Secondary Board To Schools and Tertiary levels Tourism Corporation April 23, 2007 Island wide BONAIRE Smile, Boneiru ta Dushi/ Bonaire/The Bonaire Smile Bonaire is Sweet Government -School children between BRITISH VIRGIN Tourism Month-2007 the ages of 5-16 ISLANDS Theme: “This is who we BVI Tourist Board -General Public are. Be proud…have -Business pride” Community Curacao Tourist Entire population CURAÇAO -Curacao Planners- Board Good Will Host Programme Grenada Board of -Primary & Secondary students GRENADA -School Visits Programme Tourism and teachers -Tourism Awareness Week General public tourism service providers & stake-holders, government officials, students & teachers JAMAICA Team Jamaica Tourism Product 1997 Tourism personnel: Development Compa (foreign nationals, hospitality and tourism tertiary & vocational students) - entertainers, sports personalities and government officials Good Practices in Tourism Awareness Programmes 3 NAME OF NAME OF DATE COUNTRY IMPLEMENTATION TARGET GROUPS PROGRAMME(S) IMPLEMENTED AGENCY - JTB Scholarship Programme Jamaica Tourist Board Tourism Industry Workers - Tourism Awareness Week General population - Tourism Action Clubs Secondary and tertiary students - General Tourism Awareness Students and adult population Activities Primary students - Careers in Tourism Programmes - Tourism Awareness Competitions - Montserrat Host Training Montserrat Tourist 2005 Hospitality workers MONTSERRAT Programme Board Tour guides/operators - General Sector Training: Customs and Immigration officers Certification / Accreditation New entrants into the tourism - General Sector Training: sector Community Awareness General population Programme - Introduction to Careers in Ministry of Tourism Primary and secondary NEVIS Tourism Course school students - A Tourism Education in the General Population Primary Schools Course Visitors - Best Village / Best Garden Contest - Tourism Radio & TV Programmes - Annual Nevis Tourism Week - Blue Flag Beach and Marina Puerto Rico Tourism PUERTO RICO Certification Programme Company - Corporación Piñones se Integra - Hospitality and Tourism - Tourism Quality Programme - Programme of Community Education of Commitment and Service - Hello Tourist - Porta Caribe - My Precious Island - Symposium