Tourism
The tourism sector is another area where the trade section has been providing assistance with a view to enhance the competitiveness of member countries.
Technical assistance is offered towards policy formulation and institutional capacity building. The specific areas of focus are:
- Tourism master plans / tourism sector strategies.
- Tourism marketing plans and strategies.
- Tourism human resource development plans.
- Tourism product development and diversification strategies.
- Promotion of linkages between tourism and other sectors.
- Promotion of linkages between mainstream tourism and other sectors e.g. agriculture
- CBT (Responsible Tourism) – ecotourism &
agro-tourism
In the period 2006-07, tourism Master Plans/ Sector Strategies have been completed for the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, and one is being elaborated for Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. Assistance has also been provided to strengthen the Caribbean Tourism Office (CTO),
A tourism investment strategy was prepared for St Vincent & the Grenadines with the aim of attracting and fostering both local and foreign investment. Sustainability is the prime focus of the investment strategy through specific actions aimed at increasing participation of local businesses in the tourism sector. The process of developing the tourism invest strategy also resulted in production of an inward investment guide for the tourism sector and profiles of three prime tourism investment opportunities in the twin islands. The project included building the capacity of the agency’s staff in investment targeting and packaging of investment opportunities.
A new area of focus for the Commonwealth Secretariat is the promotion of linkages between tourism and other sectors. The Government of Barbados has identified in its sustainable tourism strategy the need to build strong linkages between tourism and other sectors as one way of promoting growth of other sectors and broadening the benefits of tourism in the local economy. The Commonwealth Secretariat is working with the Barbados Ministry of Tourism and International Transport, and with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) Caribbean regional office, to develop a strategy for Barbados aimed at promoting linkages between the tourism and agriculture sectors.
The project was conceived from a Caribbean regional workshop on export competitiveness organized by the Trade Section in Barbados in May 2006. The workshop identified that one of the main hindrances to competitiveness and sustainable development was due to the weak linkages between tourism and other sectors. It was recognized that despite the flourishing tourism sector, other sectors and local entrepreneurship have failed to develop by utilizing the opportunities that the tourism market provides. The project will look at supply factors affecting farmers, demand factors on the tourism side, marketing and contractual arrangements, logistical support services, infrastructure, institutional framework and capacity building needs. The results of the project are expected to be applied in other countries in the region.
There are three projects in the pipeline: i) Botswana eco-tourism strategy; ii) Kenya community based tourism project, and iii) Malawi institutional capacity building and human resource development plan.