Ecotourism in the Caribbean : a sustainable option for Belize and Dominica?

Abstract

The Central American state of Belize and the Caribbean island of Dominica have both been actively promoting themselves as ecotourism destinations over recent years. Belize is marketed with the use of slogans such as 'Naturally Yours' and 'The Adventure Coast', and Dominica claims to be the 'Nature Island of the Caribbean'. While Belize (Figure 7.1) is considerably larger than Dominica (Figure 7.2), with a population of 188,000 and a land area of 23,000 km2 as opposed to a population of 72,000 (1991) and a land area of 751 km2, there are many similarities between the two small nation states, inviting inevitable comparisons and parallels to be drawn. Both are lower middle-income nations in World Bank terms: Belize had a per capita GNP of US$2010 and Dominica of US$2440 in 1991. Typical of the economies of most less-developed nations, agricultural products constitute a sizeable proportion of their exports, rendering them vulnerable to fluctuations in world trade and meaning they have to import the bulk of their requirements for manufactured goods. As both have balance of payments deficits, it is not surprising that they have seen tourism earnings as a valuable means of augmenting their foreign-exchange earnings. The Belize government made tourism the second priority in its growth strategy in 1984. Dominica, faced with a prospect of the removal of preferential access to the UK market for bananas, is anxious to diversify her economy, and in 1986 declared an official tourism policy based on its natural attractions. Both countries, therefore, also share the common characteristic of coming relatively late on to the international tourism scene. The major difference between the two nations, which will probably dictate future tourism development more than any other factor, is that of access to the North American market. Belize is readily accessible both overland and by air, direct flights only taking two hours from Miami, New Orleans and Houston. Conversely, there are no direct flights to Dominica from either North America or Europe: transits have to be made elsewhere in the Caribbean and schedules sometimes necessitate night stop overs on either Antigua or Barbados, the main connecting points to Dominica.