Best knows the Caribbean so well because she was born there. “I was interested in whether or not tourism was taught in secondary schools since high school is the level of education for most of the tourism workforce in the region. I always wondered what formal tourism education employees had,” she said.
For the each of the dozen courses her university teaching portfolio there is at least one relevant chapter in the book. “The objective is to augment students’ understanding of tourism in local, national and global contexts,” she said. She also hopes to create additional research opportunities through collaboration with her co-authors and to promote student travel.
Looking beyond on the job training or the development of skills, she wondered about the broader education that would equip employees in hotels, restaurants and other tourist sites to see the industry from macro and micro perspectives. She knew she wanted to help them make better decisions, improve service and management and think more critically about the industry. “In general I wanted to make the industry more sustainable,” she said, “So I started with the development of a survey and conducted research at secondary schools in Barbados.”
Though the formal book launch was this month, much of its content is already in use by community colleges in Belize and Anguilla and the book is currently being reviewed by the Caribbean Examinations Council to become one of their recommended resources. “With a new advanced level tourism course created for secondary schools in the Caribbean I expect several more schools to adopt the book as well,” she said. “I also anticipate that Contemporary Caribbean Tourism will be used to support undergraduate and graduate tourism courses at the University of the West Indies in Barbados and Trinidad. Indeed, given that no similar book on Caribbean tourism exists, it would be a useful resource for anyone interested in tourism in this region and in developing countries in general.”
The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), established in 1972, creates subject syllabi and administers exams for 23 countries and territories in the Caribbean. “I chaired the panel that created an advanced level subject in tourism for high schoolers that is equivalent to an introductory university course,” she said. “The subject was approved by CXC’s board in 2013 and instruction started in fall 2014 in several schools around the region.”
Through her research on tourism education in secondary schools and her work with the CXC committee, she concluded that a comprehensive book on Caribbean tourism did not exist. “Sherma Roberts, a colleague and the tourism programme coordinator for the University of the West Indies in Barbados was a member of the CXC panel and is the Chief Examiner for the course. So we had many opportunities to work together and to discuss co-authoring a book. Acolla Cameron is a long-time friend who is Sherma’s counterpart at UWI in Trinidad, so we invited her to come on board and the writing partnership was born. We started writing in summer 2012 during a writing week here at CSUN,” Best said.
“I hope our book becomes essential reading in Caribbean tourism,” Best said. “It was the research, volunteering with CXC and the book that helped me get to a place where I can contribute significantly to the region that created me.”
Within its first week of wide publication, Contemporary Caribbean Tourism: Concepts and Cases is already getting attention: Barbados Today: Tourism Official Praises New Book.
*ABOUT THE AUTHORS (from the publisher):
Sherma Roberts is a Lecturer in tourism and Programme Co-ordinator at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill. As Chair of the Tourism Advisory Council, she has served the government of Barbados in the formulation of its Tourism Policy 2012–2021, and Tourism Master Plan; and is Chief Examiner for the CXC CAPE Tourism examination.
Mechelle Best is an Associate Professor of Tourism at California State University Northridge where she also teaches courses in Sustainability. With over 15 years’ professional experience in the tourism industry, she has consulted independently for hotels and attractions and on USAID and IADB-funded projects in the Caribbean as an Environmental Management Specialist.
Acolla Cameron is Programme Co-ordinator and Lecturer in Tourism in the Department of Management Studies at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine. Her research interests include tertiary tourism education administration and curriculum development, tourism planning and policy and destination marketing in small island developing states.
From the book jacket: “Spanning the breadth of issues from accommodation and transportation; environmental and economic impacts; Cultural, Sport, Health and Wellness, and Adventure Tourism; to disaster management and preparedness, this book discusses all of the elements essential to the long-term development and sustainability of the Region’s most valuable source of income. Cutting across the Dutch, English, Spanish and French Caribbean, the history and issues of tourism in the Caribbean are presented in a cohesive and easy to grasp manner, with practical examples, case studies and references from all aspects of the business of tourism.” Learn more about the book from the publisher's website.
SP2015
Mechelle Best
with Jean O'Sullivan