The Caring Entrepreneur: A Strategy for Sustainable Community-based Tourism—Book Review by Modeste Downes

“The Caring Entrepreneur is illuminating, transformative, authoritative. An indispensable tool for the understanding and application of the preferred approach to tourism development in the new dispensation.”

As an industry, tourism in the Caribbean is in a state of nascency. As a leg of national economies contributing to GDP, tourism’s impact was hardly a factor before the decade of the 60s-early 70s. Given that 50 years of history in any enterprise is, relatively speaking, a short time, it is therefore no surprise that governments and practitioners (including foreign investors in the accommodation sector) are still trying to identify and fine-tune the vital elements for a balanced, ethical and economically viable approach to the conduct of tourism activity in these islands.

In the search for an acceptable pathway that provides mutual benefits for investors, governments and indigenous interests, a model has emerged whose core components are couched in the principles of sustainability. It entails a conscious and deliberate strategy that emphasizes the rational use of a destination’s resources—natural, social, cultural and human—in a manner that ensures the conservation and long-term viability of those resources for present and future generations, while providing investor benefits, gains to native interests, as well as returns (taxes) to governments.

Sylvester Clauzel, from the Eastern Caribbean island of Saint Lucia, is a leading authority in academia and in tourism praxis, promoting the paradigm shift from the “brick, steel and mortar,” “sea, sand and sun” concept, to ‘sustainable tourism practices’ in the region—and internationally. The weight of his prescriptions is backed by his substantial credentials, which include a MSc. in Tourism, Conservation and Sustainable Development, a Certificate in Environmental and Resources Management, eight years of lecturing a post-graduate course in Tourism Planning in Developing Countries at the University of the West Indies, and three years heading the Tobago Tourism and Hospitality Training Institute in Trinidad & Tobago. Clauzel has also served as a permanent secretary to the government of Saint Lucia, with responsibility for Sustainable Development. His role as a consultant in policy and planning in sustainable tourism practices across the Caribbean region is therefore noteworthy.

With the publication of The Caring Entrepreneur – A Strategy for Sustainable Community-based Tourism (Scribal Consultancy Services Inc., Saint Lucia, 2022, 82 pages), Clauzel has produced a master’s manual for an understanding of the concept and implementation of sustainable tourism practices, with special focus on community-based tourism (CBT).

In this book, the author’s bias for CBT and Village Tourism stands out. He argues for a tourism ethic that is not monopolistic, is not propelled by self-interest and profit maximization at all costs, and does not systematically drain the host country or community of the wealth created by tourism. Rather, he advocates a model that ensures “local residents are active participants,” that is concerned with “community empowerment,” that insists implementation policies pay due regard to the environment and management of ecosystems, and that sees to it visitor satisfaction does not override the distribution of equitable benefits to the host community.

Clauzel’s thesis for a revised—indeed revolutionary—approach to tourism’s modus operandi is validated by years of research, interviews with stakeholder interests, statements by industry experts and experienced business CEOs, students’ feedback, as well as accumulative knowledge acquired while working with NGO’s and CBO’s and collaborations with colleagues in the conversation for enlightened adjustments in tourism.

In this book, the reader will encounter the supposedly new concept of the “Caring Entrepreneur” and its rival the “Uncaring Entrepreneur,” as well as other recently coined terms, such as the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) approach to sustainable tourism development, and STD (Sustainable Tourism Development).

The case studies of CBT programmes highlighted are instructive and provide guidelines on how and how not to manage suchlike entities.

Like other proponents agitating for a paradigm shift in the management and conduct of the tourism business, the author makes a strong case for the involvement of government in defining and overseeing the industry. According to Clauzel, one of his mentors, Cletus Springer, of international repute, opines that “the responsibility for creating a shift to sustainable tourism lies squarely on the shoulders of Governments…”

Says Springer, “If an investor is not committed to TBL and STD, that investor ought not to be courted.” (p. 68).

An article in the UK-based The Voice newspaper of February 2024, which this writer came across just before writing this review, is extolling the touristic virtues of one of the Caribbean destinations. It notes that “maintaining the beauty of the island for the long-term has always been a focus for the people living there…with sustainability being at the forefront of (their) caution.” It goes on: “(the island) is a haven for eco-conscious travelers seeking unforgettable experiences in harmony with the environment.”

Anyone reading The Caring Entrepreneur will agree that this, fundamentally, is at the core of the strategy being promoted by Clauzel and other advocates of sustainable tourism development.

The Caring Entrepreneur is illuminating, transformative, authoritative. An indispensable tool for the understanding and application of the preferred approach to tourism development in the new dispensation.

About Modeste

Ranked in the top ten of St. Lucia’s all-time best poets, Modeste Downes, has published three critically acclaimed collections of poetry—Phases (2005), Theatre of the Mind (2012), and A Lesson on Wings (2019). He was the winner of the 2004 George Odlum Award for Creative Artists; Phases, was the winner of the 2005 M&C Main Prize for literature; and Theatre of the Mind was the winner of the 2012 CDF Arts Award for poetry. Modeste Downes is also a distinguished Jako Journalist. His latest book, Jungle Democracy on Trial: The Politics of Covid, presents a commentary on the current state of politics in St. Lucia. The poet was born and raised in the Vieux Fort area and is among a small cohort of writers who are giving rise to a distinguished body of Vieux Fort literature that is among the best of what the island has to offer.