An Idea for Tourism on St. Croix

St. Croix has needed an economic boost for too many years. We just can’t seem to catch a break around here. A few years ago, I had a great year business-wise, but it was one out of twelve that I’ve been in business here.

During this year’s Super Bowl, Home Away, a company which promotes renting homes out as vacation “villas” ran a big ad about the benefits of staying at a private home rather than a large, expensive, impersonal resort.

Could this be the future of tourism?

Let’s think about it. Does St. Croix really want more resort/casino/golf course monstrosities? Do we want to be like Aruba, St. Maarten, San Juan?

I think most of us don’t. Many local people say they want big resort developments because of the promise of jobs. But the resorts we already have are frequently looking for help and have difficulty filling positions.

I’ve worked in some of our resorts, but want more job satisfaction than I received working for someone else. I am still involved working with tourists, but I am self-employed and I love what I do now.

Many of our visitors love St. Croix specifically because it’s not overdeveloped with wall-to-wall high-rise hotels.

So here’s an idea: St. Croix has a wonderful rich history. We are still fortunate enough to have much of our beautiful natural environment intact.

What about a joint-venture between some of our historic neighborhoods and tourism which assists homeowners in remodeling their homes to be rented out to visitors?

CHANT, the Department of Tourism, the St. Croix Foundation and the St. Croix Chamber of Commerce, etc. could work together to secure funding for loans toward this end.

A three bedroom house could be converted into accommodations for 3 couples or 2 couples and 2 kids, or any combination thereof. People could offer a B&B option and rent out part of their homes to visitors. This would provide another low-cost and unique option for visitors.

Each neighborhood could have a small museum with information about the people who lived and worked on the estate over the years. There could be walking paths to showcase beautiful trees and gardens….

This would accomplish quite a few goals:

1.) More people would be gainfully employed.
2.) They’d have the satisfaction which comes with being self-employed rather than toiling for someone else’s benefit for their entire lives.
3.) Their properties would be enhanced and the history of the area preserved
4.) Pride in neighborhoods would be instilled
5.) Crucian Heritage and Nature Tourism would flourish
6.) It would make St. Croix unique and at the forefront of a new type of tourism rather than just another Caribbean island.

And that’s only the beginning.

Please take the time to think about this and discuss it with family, friends and colleagues.

Let’s start working together as a community to create a sustainable future for our children, our island and our planet.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 25th, 2010 at 8:45 am and is filed under St. Croix, Terry Talk. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.