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Tourism, today, has not only emerged as the engine of growth but also become the largest and the fastest growing sector in the Caribbean. For this reason the industry is now viewed as one of the leading instruments of development in the region. Given the importance of the industry, it is incumbent on governments to orient tourism growth towards meeting the socioeconomic needs and environmental requirements of the region. To meet these objectives, however, regional governments are required to play a greater role in directing and shaping the future development of the industry. This paper strongly argues in favour of a greater role in the industry, both through direct and indirect market intervention, by governments of the region.

Introduces a new concept, performance of tourism (POT) analysis as a tool for measuring the performance of tourist destinations. Comments on the Caribbean region’s overdependence on tourism, and examines the scope of foreign exchange leakage. Tourism in the Caribbean generally grows faster than the world average. Often the success of tourism is measured from the gross figures rather than the net figures. Presents data from four Caribbean countries, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Jamaica and St Lucia to explain the concept. Key findings reflect surprising results. Based on the analysis done, a relatively new tourism destination in the Caribbean, Aruba, has outperformed mature tourist destination, Jamaica, by 16 to one.