A national consultation on Community based niche Tourism products, was convened recently by the Ministry of Tourism, under the auspices of the Secretariat of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States.
The consultation was meant to identify existing and potential opportunities to develop community based niche tourism products, and to support and promote these initiatives.
At the short opening ceremony Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, Haydn Hughes said “This consultation couldn’t be more timely, it comes at a time when we are entering the implementation phase of the Sustainable Tourism Masterplan”. He added “Anguillians are resourceful, talented, ambitious and energetic and we are used to making use of little or nothing and turning it into something impressive”.
The consultation was attended by over 40 representatives of community initiatives including The Welches Festival Committee, festival Del Mar, the Tourism Working Groups, the Blowing Point Youth Development Centre the Anguilla National Creative Arts Association and the newly formed Anguilla Genealogical Society.
The feature speaker at the consultation was Mrs Diana McIntyre Pike, founder of the Country style Community Tourism Network in Jamaica. Mrs McIntyre Pike a community Tourism Consultant gave an indepth presentation, on the Community Tourism initiatives in Jamaica and the contribution they are makingto the tourism economy of the island.
This was followed by presentations from the Tourism Planner at the Ministry of FEDICT on Anguilla’s Community Tourism initiatives. Ms Jasmin Garraway, Tourism Manager of the Project Management Unit for the implementation of the Tourism Masterplan, also delivered a presentation on Anguilla’s untapped potential for Community Tourism in Anguilla.
The participants then broke into 3 working groups to identify themes for community based tourism in Anguilla. Following animated discussions the teams through working independently identified Nature Tourism and Heritage Tourism as having the most potential for development community tourism.
In the final session of the day, delegates were informed that once community groups met certain criteria, they would be eligible for financial support under the 10th EDF programme. The grant funding will assist groups in implementing Community Tourism Projects in Anguilla.
– Press Release
