Tourism, cultural heritage and regional identities in the Isle of Spice

Bibliographic Data

ID5772277
AuthorsCarla Guerrón Montero (0000-0003-1128-3416, University of Delaware, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume13
Issue1
Pages1-21
Publication date2014-02-18
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Tourism and Cultural Change (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1476-6825 • E-ISSN: 1747-7654
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14766825.2013.877473
OpenAlexW2171312139
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited47

Because of distinctive political, economic, and historic circumstances, Grenada has not followed the traditional approach of most Caribbean destinations constructed as generic paradisiacal landscapes and seductive spaces. In this article, I examine Grenada's particular path to tourism, focusing primarily on cultural and historical heritage tourism on Grenada's Carriacou Island and, secondarily, on the resulting regional identities that developed. I argue that Carriacouans use tourism to construct and represent their racial and ethnic identities for tourist consumption; at the same time, through it they create, recreate and invigorate what they perceive as their exclusive cultural heritage, in contrast with Grenada and other islands in the Grenadines. I conclude that three main aspects of Kayak history allow for fluid constructions of identities: the Kayak cosmopolitan experience, the tightly knit community practices and value given to Carriacou's history and culture, and the cultural capital Kayaks possess through maintaining cultural practices long gone in the rest of the Caribbean. As a result, both ambivalence about what tourism can mean for the tranquil lifestyle and strong Afro-Antillean cultural practice, and the firm conviction that Kayak's culture will not 'suffer' or be diminished resulting from tourism development, coexist

Ambivalence · Capital (architecture · Cultural identity · Cultural tourism · Value (mathematics · Caribbean history, culture, and politics · Diverse Aspects of Tourism Research · Tourism, Volunteerism, and Development

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