Regional Workshop:
“Towards National Strategies for Sustainable Heritage
Tourism Development in the Caribbean”
February 18 –19, 2008
Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination
The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus Background
Few regions in the world display such an extensive variety of cultural and natural diversity in such a small and interconnected geographic area as the Caribbean. Heritage is of central importance to any country in three ways: firstly it has an intrinsic value for national identity, which is often a society’s fundamental reason for conserving, interpreting and educating about its heritage; secondly heritage represents an outlet for recreational activities providing an additional driving force in the creation of heritage offers such as parks and museums; and thirdly heritage is increasingly sought after as part of the national tourist product offer.
The Caribbean is more dependent on tourism to sustain livelihoods than any other region of the world. In recent years, the heritage tourism sector has emerged as a key strategic asset in the Caribbean, enabling countries to tap into their cultural wealth and marketing and enhancing the competitiveness of Caribbean destinations. Against this background, the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination and the Shridath Ramphal Centre for International Trade Law, Policy and Services at the UWI, in partnership with the Caribbean Tourism Organization and Barbados Tourism Authority are pleased to initiate this regional workshop to focus on national strategies for sustainable heritage tourism the development in the Caribbean.
Workshop objectives
• To identify heritage tourism opportunities
• To identify, understand and document the challenges facing heritage tourism
• To examine strategies to overcome these challenges
• To identify resources that can be mobilised to overcome the challenges
• To present research data on heritage tourism in the Caribbean
Who should participate?
• Senior representatives of the tourism private sector and public sector agencies
• Senior representatives of the public and private sector cultural and heritage agencies
• Senior officials of public and private sector education agencies
• Senior representatives of the gastronomic society and food and beverage community
Workshop facilitators
• Dr. Michael Scantlebury, Rosen School of Hospitality Management, University of Central Florida, USA
• Dr. Keith Nurse, Sir Shridath Ramphal Centre for International Trade, Law and Policy and Service
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