Finding the Best Way to Involve the Community

Both community development and tourism are complex issues. Therefore specific interventions are required to simultaneously manage both processes. In an effort to gain trust, use of existing agencies and structures with which the community is already familiar and whose roles and functions are known and understood is recommended. Despite the fact that these agencies have been working with the community, it might be useful to explain their roles and functions within the context of community-based tourism.

Leadership is an important element in the successful management of the process of community-based tourism development. It is important, therefore, to identify people who can guide the process both within the community and within the agencies. The community must be allowed to identify its own leader(s). Many projects have failed because the community did not choose its community leaders. The objective is to build broad based equity and trust within the community.

The community-based tourism project requires an understanding of the legal rights and responsibilities of the community over land, resources and development. These issues are particularly relevant when it involves matters such as land tenure and land use. These sorts of matters demand discussion in the context of the community‘s ability to access land, influence decisions affecting their welfare and earn income from tourism. Research has shown that land and family land, in particular, is a major issue in tourism. (Boxill, 2000)

Community-based tourism regardless of its nature is a business. This concept has two parts. The first is investment opportunities for community members and the nature and structure of business. Second is the role and responsibility of the community participants in the business process. Special attention needs to be paid to the matter of tax liability. Paying tax is not a new phenomenon. However, the necessity to pay tax in the context of individual and community benefits needs to be explained as does the role of paying taxes as a function of conducting legitimate business.

There are several approaches that can be taken to facilitate community participation in private enterprise. Involvement can be phased to coincide with capacity building efforts. Examples of questions that can be used to determine the nature and type of intervention are: is there a high incidence of illiteracy at the community level? Is there a low level of understanding of the principles of business? Is there a low level of acceptance of the project?

Answers to these questions can lead the relevant agencies to create the necessary framework for developing the building blocks for the project or deferring its implementation.

There are also options that can be used to involve the community within an enterprise. Some of these options are:

Option 1: Private tourism business employing community people. For example Sandals when they begin to operate on the South Coast will hire people from the communities that surround it. The essential elements for success are good wages, and effective human resource management practices and consistent involvement with the community.

Option 2: Community members operate a retail handicraft business. The essential elements are: continuous training in entrepreneurship, customer service and product design. The area of craft can be expanded into a full fledge industry.

Option 3: Private tourism business (from within or external to) the community can be offered a concession to operate by the community, in return for a fee and a share of revenue. This has the potential to be a contentious issue. To ensure effectiveness the involvement of a trained sociologist and an attorney may be necessary through all stages of the project. The main issues will be the creation of a legal entity that fully represents the community and can act on its best interest.

Option 4: Individuals within the community operate their own small tourism business. The pitfalls are: lack of experience in tourism and business. This requires continuous training and monitoring.

Option 5: Community owned and run enterprises. The drawbacks here are: lack of a legal entity with which to negotiate, the lack of organization and limited incentives. This is an ideal situation but given the realities of the Jamaican social environment this would have to be viewed as a long-term goal. An example of a failed community-based project is Roaring River, Westmoreland. The Roaring River project should be evaluated in an effort to glean “lessons learnt” before proceeding with another such project.

There are actions that can be taken to strengthen the relationships between the community and public/private partners. These include:

• Advice and training for communities on legal matters such as their rights, responsibilities and negotiating practices.
• Use of transparent, simple and consistently applied processes to engage the community in tourism and business practices, minimizing administrative processes and uncertainties.
• Establishment of committees involving the community, private operators and government entities and NGOs to ensure understanding and efficient implementation and execution of agreements and to help the local communities to work through areas of concern.
• Establishment of a committee including members of the community offering different types of tourism products to establish regulatory standards for their respective business having regard to the unique nature of community-based tourism products.
• Initiate discussions with the Attorney General’s Department and the Chief Parliamentary Counsel on legal issues relating to communities and community participation within the Jamaican legal structure. Current legislation may not facilitate the concept of community participation thereby hampering the chance of success.
• Establish a mechanism for a body, inclusive of community members, charged with negotiating with tour operators.
• Investigate mechanisms for assisting communities to function as one business entity structured along lines similar to Best Western Hotels or some other suggested structure.

PIOJ document - Guidelines for South Coast Project -
prepared by Carolyn Hayle