This Caribbean Community-Based Tourism (CBT) Enterprise Handbook is for anyone who operates or who wants to develop a community-based tourism (CBT) business. The business can be owned by the community, local groups, families, and be joint ventures, partnerships or entrepreneurial ventures.
The handbook has introductory-level information on all of the topics, from business planning processes, systematic product development to financial management. It also contains best practice information on CBT criteria and standards, strategies to enhance the market-readiness of community tourism enterprises, and market access guidelines.
It has fill-in-the-blank questions and Best Practice Checklists to make you think and help you to run your business better. You should work through the handbook step-by-step, making notes in the spaces provided while using the checklists to identify where you are following good business practices and where you need to make changes in how you are operating your business.
This handbook was commissioned by the Compete Caribbean Partnership Facility (CCPF) and the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) as part of the Innovation for Tourism Expansion and Diversification project. The objective of the project is to build the capacity of the CTO to enable more MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) to generate more revenues from tourism. The technical cooperation agreement has three components, each of which include strategies aimed at women-owned firms (WOF).
The CCPF is working in 13 countries: Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
The topics in the handbook respond to training needs identified by CBT businesses in the Caribbean. They were identified through field missions and interviews with CBT stakeholders during this project.
