ABSTRACT
The international tourist industry has developed into a complex, multi-functional and geographically dispersed system of services. Capital accumulation and profit dictate the organisation of this global industry by involved enterprises (and entrepreneurs), industries (owners, stock holders, workers), markets (hoteliers, retailers, travel agencies), transportation industries (airlines, cruise lines, taxi and transit services), producer services (information, communication, financial and ‘back-office’ services), and state agencies (tourism promotion industries, ministries of tourism, regulatory ministries) (Britton 1991). It is this multi-faceted and highly profitable international capitalist ensemble that interacts with the environment in a two-way system of direct and indirect feedbacks and relations. On the one hand, environmental resources provide one of the basic ingredients – the natural and/or people-made ‘place’ and island setting for the tourist to visit, enjoy, ‘consume’ and relax away from the rigours of the work regime ‘at home’. The international destination in the Caribbean is a different, or exotic, resource to be produced and consumed ‘on vacation’, but is generally packaged, marketed and promoted in the major generating markets of North America and Europe.
