may2017c

opening lines

turned its focus to building Dominica’s

reputation as a centre for eco-tourism.

Due to its rocky terrain, lack of white

sand beaches and basic infrastructure,

Dominica has not been targeted by

large scale tourist development but the

government is now investing heavily in

its eco-tourism offering which consists

largely of hiking in the rainforest.

An increasing number of cruise ships

are now visiting the island following

significant investment in cruise ship

facilities including the cruise ship jetty

at Prince Rupert Bay, near Portsmouth.

P&O Cruises, Carnival Cruise, Princess

Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean all now

stop off in Dominica. This has pushed

annual visitor numbers to up to well over

350,000 with the vast majority–nearly

four fifths – arriving via cruise ship.

The island’s tourism trade took a hit in 2015 in the

aftermath of Tropical Storm Erika which all but wiped

out some communities like Petite Savanne, displacing

hundreds of families, after ten inches of rain fell in

just a few hours. Roseau was engulfed by water and

the island’s transport infrastructure was brought to a

standstill, generating a huge recovery bill for the na-

tion. The storm also damaged several hotels and led to

the cancellation of the World Creole Music Festival.

The damage to Douglas-Charles Airport in August

2015 meant it was closed until September, leading to

a 5.8 percent decline in total passenger arrivals by air

and sea to 107,553. There were a total of 367,657 vis-

itors in 2015– a four percent decline from 382,413 in

2014–of which 279,474 arrived via cruise ship while

74,474 were overnight visitors. This represented an

8.6 percent drop in overnight visitors from 81,511 in

2014 but preliminary figures suggested some recovery

in 2016 to more than 78,000.

Most overnight tourists to Dominica

come from other parts of the Caribbe-

an with about 20,000 arriving from the

French West Indies and a further 10,000

or so from the Commonwealth of the

Caribbean. The USA is also a major

source of tourism for the island with just

under 20,000 visitors from the States in

both 2014 and 2015. The UK and France

are the biggest European tourist mar-

kets for Dominica with between 4,000

- 5,000 from each country arriving in

2014.

Named as one of ‘The world’s ten best

ethical destinations’ in 2015, 2014, and

2011 by Ethical Traveler, Dominica is

famed for its dense rainforest, rushing

rivers and cascading waterfalls, steep

gorges and bubbling mud baths as well