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Anguilla News covers Anguilla and the wider
Caribbean.
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The Greater
Caribbean This Week: We’ve Come a Long Way! |
By: Ms.
Jasmin Garraway the Sustainable Tourism Director of the
Association of Caribbean States
 October
08, 2007: WORLD TOURISM DAY was celebrated around the
world on September 27th. This year’s theme, “Tourism opens
doors for Women” celebrates women’s achievement in the
tourism sector and prompts one to reflect on not only the
contribution of women to tourism, but also to the beginning
of the industry itself.
Tourism for special purposes flourished in the late 1800s
particularly in Europe. History tells of travel to the
continent for religious pilgrimages, and for medical
purposes, particularly to “take the waters” of the thermal
springs in Bath and Baden Baden in Germany. |
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The Grand Tour of
the continent in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries can be
considered as the start of educational tourism. The tour
which lasted several years was meant to teach scholars and
young British aristocrats’ languages, fencing, riding,
foreign affairs and other social skills, through a series of
study tours to France, Germany and Switzerland.
But in pursuit of more concrete evidence of the history of
travel and tourism, we discover Thomas Cook, an Englishman
who became known as the father of Modern Tourism. He founded
Thomas Cook and Son and opened his first travel agency on
July 5th 1841. Cook then persuaded the Midland Countries
Railway to conduct an organized railway excursion from
Leicester to Loughborough. Later in the summer of 1845, he
ran his first conducted tour abroad taking a group from
Leicester to Calais.
While leisure seekers were fuelling the tourism phenomena in
Europe in the early 1900s, to mid 1900s, tourism activity in
the Caribbean was in the form of trips by expatriate
plantation owners, traders, merchants, the aristocracy, and
a few adventure seekers motivated by “wanderlust” a simple
desire to wander to unknown places.
Closer to home and in the case of Trinidad and Tobago,
records show that organised tourism started in the early
1950s, with a welcoming committee headed by the then
Governor’s wife. She along with other socialites met the
ships on arrival at the port and invited the élite to tea.
While the ordinary folks across the region were engaged in
pursuits related to sugar cane, cocoa, coffee, rice and rum
making, very few would participate in tourism, except as
porters and servers of tea and meals to visitors to the
homes where they were employed.
In those days, records show that the founding fathers of
several countries in the region were firmly committed to
discouraging tourism, stating that it would create a country
of Barmaids and Bellboys.
The region has come a long way indeed in its courtship with
the industry. The World Travel & Tourism Council projects
that the industry is expected to contribute 5.1% to the
region’s GDP (US$ 12.5.bn in 2007) rising to US$ 24.7bn by
2017.
The hospitality and tourism industry has opened doors for
many. Once considered a non traditional career, enterprising
women have responded to the opportunities created by the
demands for new tourism products and services. They cover
the industry’s landscape in positions as hoteliers, pilots,
travel agents, tour operators and policy makers to name a
few.
An examination of the structure of the National Tourism
Administration in the ACS Member States, reflect that in 20
out of 25 countries, women currently hold senior positions
in tourism from the level of Directors to Ministers of
Tourism.
Recently, a think-tank was hosted by Sri Lanka on the theme
“Tourism opening doors for Women” and its interrelationship
with the UN Millennium Development Goals. Women who have
played prominent roles in Tourism around the world discussed
the importance of women in the tourism sector, improving the
role of women in tourism and accentuating their roles
particularly in developing countries
Several key issues were raised in the discussions including
awareness creation about the opportunities for women and the
creation of appropriate policy frameworks for women’s
economic empowerment.
One of the important conclusions reached by the think-tank
was to foster a network of activists, ambassadors and
advocates to support the work of UNWTO Special Advisor on
Women in Tourism, and to establish a task force to develop a
draft programme of activity. This will also serve to support
the UN’s 3rd Millennium Development Goal: Promoting Gender
Equality and Women Empowerment, through 2015 and beyond.
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