Tourism as a Small-State Development Strategy

There has been a shift in many developing countries, particularly Small Island Developing States (SIDS), towards tourism as the centrepiece of their development strategy. This occurs in the context of narrowing developmental options occasioned by the end of preferential access to metropolitan markets for agriculture and the attendant decline of the primary sector. This article draws on evidence from two case studies from the microstates of the Eastern Caribbean – St Lucia and St Vincent – and discusses the implications of their respective approaches and the ambiguous nature of tourism as a development strategy.