Citation
Ingram, H. (2003), "Turismo, Desarollo y Recursos Naturales en el Caribe (Tourism, Development and Natural Resources in the Caribbean)", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 200-200. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijchm.2003.15.3.200.3
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
This book is the result of cooperation between researchers at the Universities of the West Indies (Jamaica) and of Quintana Roo (Mexico). The aim of the project called “Knowledge construction in Latin America and the Caribbean” is to begin to form a research base of knowledge from a southern perspective. This collection forms the second volume on tourism in the Caribbean and there are 18 chapters, 11 in Spanish and seven in English. This reviewer can, unfortunately, only comment on the chapters written in English!
There is a broad range of topics from the scientific, such as climate change (Marlene Attz) and energy (Oliver St Headley and L. Leo Moseley), but most chapters address the social aspects of tourism. One of the most interesting is written by Noel M. Cowell and Anne P. Crick which explores service and servility in the contemporary Caribbean. This is an emotive subject which, for some, means that tourism is a new form of slavery. There is a perception that tourism is creating jobs that are menial and degrading and which lead to “a general cheapening of values and undermining the dignity and self respect of Jamaican youth”. Research by the authors of this chapter suggests that this perception is expressed by “the elite in Caribbean tourism” but not shared by the workers themselves, who are proud of their industry. As with many of these types of issues, poor management plays a large part.
It must be annoying for some readers of this book (like this reviewer) to be unable to understand some chapters, because only the Preface is presented in both languages. This is unusual, but the book does have a consistency of approach, with useful conclusions. For those unable to read one or the other language, this does limit the value of the book, but perhaps it enables greater participation and may be a way of reaching a, hitherto, inaccessible readership.