Sherma Roberts – författare

The intersection of community development, tourism and planning is a fascinating one. Tourism has long been used as a development strategy, in both developed and developing countries, from the national to local levels. These approaches have typically focused on economic dimensions with decisions about tourism investments, policies and venues driven by these economic considerations. More recently, the conversation has shifted to include other aspects – social and environmental – to better reflect sustainable development concepts. Perhaps most importantly is the richer focus on the inclusion of stakeholders.

An inclusionary, participatory approach is an essential ingredient of community development and this brings both fields even closer together. It reflects an approach aimed at building on strengths in communities, and fostering social capacity and capital. In this book, the dimensions of the role tourism plays in community development are explored. A panoply of perspectives are presented, tackling such questions as, can tourism heal? How can tourism development serve as a catalyst to overcome social injustices and cultural divides?

This book was originally published as a special issue of Community Development.

The intersection of community development, tourism and planning is a fascinating one. Tourism has long been used as a development strategy, in both developed and developing countries, from the national to local levels. These approaches have typically focused on economic dimensions with decisions about tourism investments, policies and venues driven by these economic considerations. More recently, the conversation has shifted to include other aspects – social and environmental – to better reflect sustainable development concepts. Perhaps most importantly is the richer focus on the inclusion of stakeholders.

An inclusionary, participatory approach is an essential ingredient of community development and this brings both fields even closer together. It reflects an approach aimed at building on strengths in communities, and fostering social capacity and capital. In this book, the dimensions of the role tourism plays in community development are explored. A panoply of perspectives are presented, tackling such questions as, can tourism heal? How can tourism development serve as a catalyst to overcome social injustices and cultural divides?

This book was originally published as a special issue of Community Development.

Over the past three decades, tourism has emerged as a major force in the global economy, with most countries, whether developed or developing, having increasing opportunities to participate, as both host and guest, in this socioeconomic phenomenon. Competition for a share of the tourism market has intensified as rapid tourism developments have been undertaken by various destinations in an attempt to reap those economic benefits from one of the world’s leading industries. The growth in tourism has propelled significant changes in the way in which destinations are managed and marketed. The challenge for many small island destinations is how to become or remain competitive. It is against this background that destination marketing has assumed the critical role of ensuring that the destination lifecycle does not enter into a stage of saturation and decline and the destination is able to adapt to the changing marketplace, seize opportunities and sustain its vitality.This book takes a holistic approach and considers marketing from a macro perspective, from the view of the destination.

Over the past three decades, tourism has emerged as a major force in the global economy, with most countries, whether developed or developing, having increasing opportunities to participate, as both host and guest, in this socioeconomic phenomenon. Competition for a share of the tourism market has intensified as rapid tourism developments have been undertaken by various destinations in an attempt to reap those economic benefits from one of the world’s leading industries. The growth in tourism has propelled significant changes in the way in which destinations are managed and marketed. The challenge for many small island destinations is how to become or remain competitive. It is against this background that destination marketing has assumed the critical role of ensuring that the destination lifecycle does not enter into a stage of saturation and decline and the destination is able to adapt to the changing marketplace, seize opportunities and sustain its vitality.This book takes a holistic approach and considers marketing from a macro perspective, from the view of the destination.

This book examines the dilemma of overdependence on tourism in Caribbean countries and territories, and the need for a resilient path to address the industry’s vulnerability in the face of natural disasters.  The chapters in the book question how tourism resilience is understood and practiced in Caribbean small island developing states (SIDS) and the factors that inform, undermine, or indeed redefine the sustainable resilience agenda for these territories.

With its overreliance on tourism and vulnerability to climate, the Caribbean region finds itself susceptible and in need of an innovative approach in order to survive economically. Contributors to this volume touch on all three sustainability pillars and spanning across many tourism sector considerations, such as product development, stakeholder management, hotel management, marketing and entrepreneurship.

By spanning the geography of the Anglophone and Spanish Caribbean this book offers a smorgasbord of conceptual and applied perspectives to researchers in the area of tourism resilience in SIDS. It also presents strategic considerations to public and private sector practitioners in implementing measures to strengthen the competitive positioning of their destinations as they contend with the dynamism of the external and internal environments.