Mass Tourism Jamaica Case Study - Geog GCSE

Jamaica is one of the Carribean's main tourist destination and has over 1 million tourists a year, however there is increasing competition with the other islands.

• Tourism is the country's second bigger earner with 220,000 (8% of the population) Jamaicans employed in this sector
• Other businesses - such as hotel suppliers and food producers also depend on tourism

Jamaica has a lot to offer tourists, such as:

• Watersports
• Wildlife sancturies
• Golf

Recently, there has been a growth in community tourism

• Local people have tourists stay in their village and home as a part of their visit to Jamaica
• Families provide bed and breakfast accommodation and other local businesses, such as restaurants and bars supply the tourists' other needs
• This style of holiday provides a greater interaction between tourists and locals, so they have a clearer idea of local life
• Its also means that it supports local businesses and uses fewer resources 
• Money goes directly to locals, rather than large international businesses

Jamaica needs to maintain its resources available for tourists

• Some companies offer ecotourism, which is become increasingly popular
• This uses the inland area (e.g. the mountains) as well as the coast
• There are more nature reserves and eco-lodges
• In areas of ecotourism, there tourist density is low, meaning there is less pressure on the environment