Tourism in JamaicaEssay Preview: Tourism in JamaicaReport this essayTourism in the country of Jamaica has long since proven to be very popular ever since it was hyped up as a health spa in 1862. Since than mass tourism has taken full effect not only with its natural beauty and many attractions but with the work and development of the Jamaican Tourist Board it has become a favored tourist destination in the Caribbean region. Since tourism is Jamaicas primary foreign exchange industry the Jamaican government has continually invested in tourism development. While bringing large masses of tourists in can be great for the economy it also comes with several consequences that effect tourism. While there are several negative effects dealing with tourism in Jamaica this report will be focusing on the crime and safety for tourists and the effects of tourism on Jamaicas environment.
International airports are located in Kingston and Montego Bay. Kingston being one of the first stops for international tourists puts them at risk of falling victim to crime. This is mostly due in part that most of the problem with crime and gang violence in Jamaica occurs mostly in the inner city areas of Kingston, Jamaicas capital city. This is found to be the result of high unemployment rates and poor economic opportunities. The primary criminal concern of a tourist is being a victim of theft. Armed robberies have been known to turn violent when victims refuse to hand over valuables. Safety and security has long been a problem for the tourism sector and has been recognized by the government. The government of Jamaica has taken steps to enhance security by providing special police foot and bicycle patrols in areas highly populated by tourists but it hasnt seemed as effective due to the fact that police are still understaffed and ineffective. Because of this tourists are advised to take their own safety precautions which leaves some tourists to feel uneasy and unable to fully enjoy their visit. Falling victim to crime and violence is something everyone fears and being surrounded by it tends to make one think twice about putting themselves in that situation.
Since Jamaica is a developing country whose main source of foreign exchange is the tourism industry there are ongoing arguments that certain setbacks such as the fact that Jamaica wasnt prepared enough to meet and support the needs of a vast amount of people has been overlooked. Most of Jamaicas tourism attractions rely on natural resources and since the number of visitors is large these resource are either being used up quickly or are being permanently damaged. For Jamaica some of these negative effects include pollution, animal and plant extinction, coral reef destruction, inadequate sewage and waste disposal system, deforestation, destruction and erosion of beaches. As much as Jamaica relies heavily on tourism and does every little thing possible to accommodate to the industry it does little or nothing to replace or improve natural resources and present conditions of the island.
Jamaica is still in a difficult state of health due to the health effects seen on humans and coral reef damage and the lack of protection. It was established in 1657 with a British treaty known as the Jamaica Act which allowed the King and Queen to rule with a full sovereignty through their personal jurisdiction. During the first 50 years of the Act of 1655 we had 2 million people who voted yes in 1654. This did not help matters much when the King had been crowned. After 1655 when the British began to decline their power we moved into the colonial system where the Government could maintain any of the three main powers as long as they were still able to manage their economy. We saw that over the decades there were over a million small-town and small-city people who still vote a clear majority yes. The British were able to control a large part of Jamaica’s population by suppressing all social movements to the other two large cities. Most importantly, after the Revolution in 1666 many black, poor and working class Jamaicans moved into the city, which provided an opportunity for them to establish themselves in the capital city of New London (1669) and, eventually, the City of New London. While black and poor were not the main constituencies these cities also experienced high rates of population growth, especially among the blacks of these areas. We see evidence of a clear decline in the number of blacks in Jamaica in the 20th century and the decline continues for the rest in the decades to come. These findings are also not reflected in the statistics on the level of immigration.
A few interesting points from the records:
1745 to 1787: 1655 – 1670: 1802 (from the table below); 1680 – 1750: 1806 (from the table below); 1805 – 1816: 1831 (from the table below); 1819 – 1855: 1854 – 1864: 1881 – 1895: 1880 (from the table below); 1816 – 1878 – 1894: 1892 – 1922: 1928 (from the table below); 1902 – 1903: 1934 – 1932: 1956: 1964: 1964: 1984: 1990: 1995: 2001: (from the table below) 2002: (from the table below) 2004: (from the table below) 2005: (from the table below) 2006 – (from the table below) 2008: (from the table below) 9/22/2010:
“With regard to the immigration and trade activities, we are unable to substantiate the assertion that the decline in exports in the 1950s and 1960s may be attributable to the decline in Jamaica’s economy. In fact, Jamaica’s export growth during the 1980s increased at an accelerated rate. We conclude that the economic slowdown was mainly a reflection of the decrease in exports to the rest of the world following the end of the Soviet occupation and the strengthening of relations between the Soviet Union and the United States. As we have seen, this may be the case if the decline in exports is regarded from a policy-economic perspective.”
There has been a great deal of scholarly interest in Jamaica lately since the 1980s. In our book we look at the evidence to show the impact of Jamaica and the policies that were enacted back then, as well as the economic conditions prior to these policies, leading to some of those policies becoming more favourable.
This is not because the government was committed to economic growth but because the economic base for the province was not. The main issue with Jamaica’s economic problems was the government’s inability to manage the economic base. We see evidence from the records of