Above: Dominica (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

More and more often, Caribbean countries speak of the need for “sustainable tourism.” While that term has come to mean many different things, for Dominica, it’s a bit more specific: tourism should integrate the community.

Indeed, community tourism should be the way forward for Dominica, according to Tourism Minister Ian Douglas.

Speaking to support the upcoming budget, Douglas said that communities should use community tourism “as a means of creating more jobs in rural Dominica,” particularly through the Waitukubuli National Trail.

Douglas additionally said that tourism could forge a link with the country’s agriculture sector to foster growth.

“We believe that the tourism industry can work side by side with the agriculture industry to revitalize and help sustain this industry,” he said. “From statistics we know that a large percentage of the produce generated from the agriculture industry finds its way into the tourism industry from fish to fresh fruits to vegetables.”

“In fact, [for] most of the tourists that come to Dominica, that is the experience they enjoy the most,” Douglas said.

The Minister said that would help “improve the overall experience on the island while growing the economy.”