Kingston, Jamaica – The Caribbean community is set to benefit from the launch of a new book on tourism. It is entitled “Travel & Tourism in the Caribbean” Challenges and Opportunities for Small Island Developing States.
The book which was launched by Minister of Tourism Honourable Edmund Bartlett on Monday, February 11, 2020 among a gathering of the top brass of both local universities and the tourism fraternity, has been touted as an important bridge between practice and academia.
The book published by internationally renowned Palgrave Mc Millan provides critical insights, intellectual leadership and solutions to the complexities of the tourism industry on which states of the region are highly dependent.
Accolades came in from several key stakeholders including Pro Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies Professor Densil Williams, Dr Mechelle Best – Professor and Chair- Department of Recreation and Tourism Management, California State University Northridge, Dr Acolla Cameron – Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, UWI St Agustine Campus and Executive Director of Mona School of Business and Management Dr David Mc Bean among others.
The six-chapter, 125 pages work was described as timely, thought provoking, revelatory and instructive.
It looks at travel and tourism in the Caribbean, climate change and the sustainable development of tourism, the economic realities facing the region, ICT and Caribbean Tourism and the future of Caribbean tourism.
About the Author Andrew Spencer, PhD
Described as a “pracademic” Andrew Spencer, PhD is the Executive Director of the Tourism Product Development Company Ltd. He has been leading the charge at this agency of the Ministry of Tourism for the past three years.
He previously held the position of Director of the Centre for Hotel & Tourism Management (CHTM) University of the West Indies, Nassau Bahamas.
Spencer has given over fifteen years of service to tertiary education in the Caribbean region and is among the Caribbean’s most sought after tourism academics.
He was lecturer in Tourism Management at the Mona School of Business & Management, and Programme Coordinator for the Master’s in National Security and Strategic Studies. He is one of the foremost scholars in the region in the area of tourism having completed all, including his terminal degree in record time, in tourism.
This is his second single authored book. He has published extensively in leading international journals and presented at conferences on the areas of the travel supply chain, tourism advertising effectiveness, small hotel competitiveness and gender issues in the hospitality sector.
According to Spencer “I’m thankful for the opportunity to share my heart with the world. While it is impossible to predict the future of tourism without a proverbial crystal ball, there is enough evidence to suggest that growth, development, and innovation are always on the horizon. The Caribbean tourism product has shown undeniable resilience and strength over the past three decades and is poised to continue to make invaluable contributions to local economies.”
The book is available for purchase on Amazon, Palgrave Macmillan and Springer Link
