Jamaica for Sale (2010) - DVD

Though the Caribbean receives only about five percent of the global tourist trade, it is the region most economically dependent on tourism. This narrow dependence on the highly volatile tourist industry is increasing as the region's traditional agricultural exports fail, and as the small scale economies of the Caribbean get further mired down in debt, while being unable to compete with the massive engines of globalization - North America, the European Union, China, India and Brazil.

Jamaica, one of the most indebted countries in the world, is undergoing unprecedented large-scale, mass market, all-inclusive hotel development, as well as the construction of exclusive gated residential schemes and luxury condominiums for non-residents.

Casino licenses have been approved, major tourist attractions, another international airport and many more hotels and luxury resorts are in the pipeline.

There is a construction boom in both tourist related infrastructure (primarily highways and water delivery systems) and mega-sized hotels built on ecologically sensitive shorelines, often in socially impoverished rural communities which are without such basic amenities as proper schools, health care, housing, sewage treatment, reliable utilities and security.

Jamaica for Sale takes a sharp look at the environmental, economic, and social impacts of tourism, including

The cumulative impacts of poorly regulated large-scale development on water quality, depleted marine species, and degraded shoreline habitats

The social impacts of the privatization of the public sphere with the removal of access by Jamaicans to beaches and shoreline

The social and environmental impacts of uncontrolled development in areas with little to no social and economic infrastructure

The economic impacts of relying on low-wage, unskilled labour and remittances from Jamaicans abroad as the model for economic development, while promoting an industry that leads to inflation in land and housing prices, and requires the consumption of large amounts of natural resources

The political, environmental and social impacts of a weak regulatory framework, where environmental laws are many but often outdated and almost never enforced.

Jamaica for Sale engages with a cross section of Jamaicans: workers who labour for low wages in the tourist industry; small hoteliers and providers of tourism services concerned about the future of the industry; fishermen affected by the increasing development of the coast; citizens alarmed at their exclusion from the beaches and decision making processes that allow for development in their communities; and environmentalists fighting to have the value of the Jamaica's natural resources recognized.

Run Time 1 Hour 24 Mins
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