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Jamaica for Sale
Wednesday, 17 Apr, 2010
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A hard-hitting documentary on the rapid and unsustainable development of the Jamaican tourism industry was premiered in the UK yesterday. The film ‘Jamaica for Sale’ by independent Jamaican film-maker Esther Figueroa was screened at the Amnesty International Human Rigths Action Centre in London with the support of Tourism Concern. Writes Rosalina Babourkova
As an activist film-maker, Figueroa’s work focuses on local knowlegde, indigenous cultures, social injustices and the environment. In ‘Jamaica for Sale’ she gives a voice to construction workers, community members, small hoteliers, fishermen, environmentalists and concerned academics whose opinions are seldom heard in the Jamaican and foreign media.
The film shows striking images of large-scale tourism developments all along Jamaica’s once pristine coastline. Those mass tourism resorts developed by large foreign companies privatise beach access and create gated Disney-esque built environments completely geared towards the (mostly American) mass tourist’s image and expectation of an exotic holiday with all the luxuries of back home.
This all comes at the expense of the local environment as sewage from hotels is shown to be left to flow into the open sea. Coral bleaching, over-fishing and destruction of wetlands are further shown to be increased due to government-funded infrastructure projects to aid the development of the hotel industry.
The livelihoods of local fishermen are obviously under threat, but the most striking images in the film come from news footage from a commercial news channel showing local construction workers protesting for fairer wages and working conditions. Behind the barbed wire of a new development, the audience gets a glimpse of the first imported Chinese labourers.
The film touches upon the whole array of negative tourism impacts in a highly indebted small country, whose economy is based on the unsustainable and vulnerable combination of tourism and remittances. Ultimately, Figueroa’s aim is to question the development model based on tourism so widely adopted by small-island developing states.
Tourism Concern’s Campaigner Rachel Noble was there to make the link between themes touched upon in the film and experiences elsewhere in the Global South: displacement and privatisation of land, water equity, lack of consultation, leakage of benefits, but also the activism that exists at the local level questionning and demanding accountability in tourism development.
For more information about the film, visit www.jamaicaforsale.net
Tourism Concern are now offering a CD Rom, which contains a PowerPoint presentation about Tourism Concern and ethical travel issues. The presentation provides a comprehensive overview of moral and ethical dimensions of global tourism. It contains 28 slides, with teaching notes for each slide, and many slides that will make useful handouts.
The CD Rom also contains Tourism Concern’s short promotional film, which gives a brief, highly visual introduction to tourism issues.
This is perfect for anybody wanting to speak about ethical tourism on our behalf. If you are interested in the new CD Rom,
Contact TC at [email protected]
Rosalina Babourkova
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