Hikes on the island are regularly organized. One of the most active walkers in Saint-Martin at the origin of this dynamic is Eric Dubois. He worked hard to keep the trails in good condition, which he found or created himself with a machete. It was for fun that he started, then he had the idea of investing with young people to make them discover their island in a new light and make them hiking guides.
Developing ecotourism requires specific skills in addition to a relatively precise markup: you must be able to react to insect bites of all kinds, sudden allergy attacks or unforeseen questions. The young people of the island could have started to earn a living, become familiar with the habits and customs of tourists and, with this first experience, find it easier to work in tourism. Hurricane Luis destroyed the training center before they graduated, and the project was unsuccessful. Since then, no initiative has come to the rescue to remedy the lack of political will. Today, if ecotourism is fashionable, adapting it to the conditions set by cruise lines is a major challenge. Distributing the benefits of the walk between the guide, the intermediary and the cruise line, taking into account the "insurance" culture of mass tourism and supervising groups of 100 people from peak to peak are all necessary to take into account to develop this green tourism which has so much the coast across the world and which would enhance Saint-Martin in a different light. In the meantime, for those who are lucky enough to live on the island, information on hiking is available on the following site: www. sxm.rando.free.fr/intro.htm. _HM
6,347 total views
No comments