Towards a sustainable ecotourism strategy for St. Kitts.

摘要

This Master's Degree Project (MDP) utilizes and discusses three major concepts: sustainable development, ecotourism and tourism planning. Assessment of St. Kitts' tourism environment revealed that the island has the basic amenities and infrastructure as well as the demand as an ecotourism destination. Recommendations based on the SWOT analysis and the principles of sustainable ecotourism were generated and presented as a framework for a sustainable ecotourism strategy for St. Kitts. These recommendations are: (1) the involvement of all key stakeholders throughout the tourism development process in order to establish a cooperative and effective tourism industry structure, (2) the development of environmental awareness and tourism education programs in an effort to enhance awareness and understanding of those issues pertaining to ecotourism development and to highlight the economic importance of the industry, (3) the protection of the natural and cultural environments and the wise use of their resources through the utilization of appropriate landuse planning, proper legislation, environmental impact assessments, and proper management practices, (4) the development of marketing and promotional strategies in order to improve St. Kitts' competitive position within existing markets and explore new market possibilities, (5) the development of human resources to ensure excellence in service that exceeds the expectations of both visitor and industry, and (6) the creation of monitoring and evaluation programs to ascertain the overall impacts of tourism development on the island.