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04th
February 2012
A SHARE
OF THE TOURISM PIE
Stan Bishop
(Photo)
The island's east coast cashes in on tourism.
For
many years now, the east coast communities of
Dennery and Mabouya Valley have been struggling
to have their fair share of the tourism pie.
From all indications, a huge step towards achieving
just that has been made.
Last Tuesday, the Dennery and Mabouya Valley
Development Foundation (DMVDF) launched its
new tourism product. The press launch, held
in the DMVDF’s new administrative building
on the Dennery Highway, La Caye, was to state
categorically that the DMV tourism experience
is open for business.
As part of the plans to redevelop the area,
consultations were held some time ago with key
stakeholders. The consultations centered on
the following:
1. Mandele Layby and La Pointe Visitor Stop
Centre,
2. Dennery Seafood Fiesta,
3. High Street Plant and Paint Project,
4. Fond d’Or Heritage Park, and
5. Sankofa Rainbow Roots Farm.
Following those consultations, development works
commenced on instituting the necessary infrastructural
upgrades in an effort to add more touristic
value to the chosen projects.
According to organizers, the initiative was
conceptualized in 2009 in an effort to create
alternative economic activity, employment, increase
incomes and reduce poverty in the Dennery/Mabouya
Valley communities. The project was borne out
of the European Union-funded Community-Based
Eco/Agro-Tourism (CBEAT) Programme (SFA 2007),
Dennery/Mabouya Valley.It was also brought about
as a response to government recognizing the
need for local communities to seve as a medium
for small enterprises and to be empowered to
share in the tangible benefits from the tourism
sector’s growth.
Chairman of the Dennery and Mabouya Valley Development
Foundation is Benedict James. That organization
came into being following the destruction the
communities faced with the passage of Hurricane
Tomas. The DMVDF is an umbrella organization
that includes eleven community groups in the
two communities. All of the projects will be
maintained by their respective groups, with
the DMVDF overseeing all the projects to ensure
that the required standards are maintained.
James described the new initiative as a milestone.
James said the initiative was something the
east coast communities had always set their
sights on. Historically, he said, the community
residents’ experience with the tourism
sector was seeing tourists pass by to and from
the airport.
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“The emergence of this
project has generally helped Dennery and Mabouya
Valley to be an active partner in the tourism
development,” James said last Tuesday.
“The second reason (for this project)
is that it allows the communities of Dennery
and Mabouya Valley to present their rich cultural
heritage to the tourists coming to Saint Lucia.
In that way, we want to be distinct and we
want to bring variety to the product…
The third reason for it is that, for a very
long time, the communities of Dennery and
Mabouya Valley have had difficulties collaborating
to get things done.”
Key features of the new initiative include
package tours and wide-ranging hospitality
services provided to visitors.
There are a few other proposed sites being
considered for similar interests. They include
the Agro Heritage Tour, CBTMO-DMVDT Building,
Maroon Trail, Dennery Highway Tree Planting
Programme, and Agro Sports Ground.
Minister of Tourism, Heritage and Creative
Industries, Hon. Lorne Theophilus, urged the
stakeholders to be mindful that product development
is a never-ending process and to always strive
to improve on their current successes.
“If we persist in our efforts to nurture
and promote the brand, commit to the authenticity
and high standards that most fit to the value
of localism, creativity and togetherness,
we will bear fruit,” Theophilus said.
Following the product launch, site tours to
nearby Sankofa Rainbow Roots Farm and some
of the other projects were organized. Media
and other interested personnel got to experience
first-hand some of the infrastructure that
has been put in place to turn the communities
into the new Mecca of tourism.
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Story
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