Heritage Tourism

Jamaica believes that heritage tourism could be the best recent opportunity to diversify its product for visitors. Properly developed and marketed, cultural heritage tourism could easily increase visitor arrivals by 40 percent, say some industry analysts.

Prospects of such gains have prompted many destinations around the world to redirect developmental resources. Britain?s promotion of its cultural attractions has paid off immensely: they now bring more than 27 percent of tourism earning. A 16th-century warship, the ?Vasa?, is Sweden?s greatest tourist attraction. Elsewhere in the Caribbean, Antigua's Nelson?s Dockyard has boosted its tourist trade.

The World Heritage Association defines heritage tourism as:

"An immersion in the natural history, human heritage, the arts and philosophy, and the institutions of another region or country." Anyway you measure it, Jamaica has perhaps one of the most exciting histories in the new world.

Captain Henry Morgan and his risk-taking friends once made this island one of the richest places on earth. Port Royal's monuments are now a popular tourist attraction.

The Maroons military genius embarrassed the British Army and brought them independence. Their response to slavery gave Jamaica the kind of human heritage that we can be proud of and something to marvel visitors.

Spanish Town and Falmouth retain the architecture and style of past centuries. Rastafarians philosophy and religion have spread widely outside Jamaica. Jamaican music dominates popular culture globally.

Seville is the first town Columbus found when he landed here.

That heritage positions Jamaica strategically to create a rich and culturally rewarding trail. Charged with that responsibility is the Jamaica Heritage Trail Limited, whose mission is to promote and develop the trail, and link historical and architectural sites. The idea is to encourage both visitors and Jamaicans to explore the island beyond the beaches.

One of the trail's common themes is the role Jamaica played in the 18th century as a major sugar producer.

The JHTL tour is expected to offer a comprehensive look at West Indian architectural and cultural heritage not seen anywhere else.

Part of JHTL's mandate is to restore and preserve historical sites and buildings, not only for their beauty and intrinsic value, but also as a potential source of income, employment and economic activity. Restaurants, hotels, museums and small guest houses, furnished to give an insight into the life of the era, will be developed and operated commercially.

ANYONE INTERESTED HERITAGE TOURISM CAN PURCHASE A BOOK ENTITLED "JAMAICA'S HERITAGE: AN UNTAPPED RESOURCE" BY CONTACTING JAMES PARRENT BY PHONE OR FAX AT (809) 0954-3033. 4 LOWER HARBOUR STREET, FALMOUTH.

FALMOUTH
Jamaica Heritage Trail Limited has begun developing Falmouth, with its Georgian architecture, as the first heritage site. Other trail themes now being considered are: the Maroon Trail; the Emancipation Trail (A Slave Museum has been proposed); the Taino (Arawak) Nature Trail; and Morant Bay, St. Thomas, where the Jamaican National Hero Paul Bogle led the 1865 rebellion.

Falmouth, the best laid out town in Jamaica, put running water in homes before New York City. Near Montego Bay, on the island s north coast, Falmouth was originally designed in the late l770s by Edward Barrett, the great-grandfather of poet Elizabeth Barrett-Browning. It was then called Barrett Town. It was renamed Falmouth in l790, after the birth place of Governor Edward Trelawny, when it was designated the new capital of Trelawny Parish.

The town's architectural style developed that way because of Trewlawny's sugar businessmen. They found that they could not travel between estates and the new town and conduct business in one day. So estate owners began buying land and building houses in Falmouth. These town houses served two purposes: they provided accommodation and were used as offices.

By 1793, there were approximately 150 houses and dozens of commercial buildings in the town. As the population grew, many feared that pit latrines would contaminate the fresh water supply obtained from shallow wells on each property. In 1798, a committee began searching for alternate sources of fresh water.

The committee advised that the town build on the Martha Brae River a water wheel with an overhead tank, which supplied water via a stone aqueduct to a reservoir in the town square. Water was then piped from the reservoir to buildings in town, thus bringing running water to homes before New York City discovered that luxury. The water wheel still stands, and the roundabout in the centre of Falmouth is the site of the old reservoir.

It's fitting that Falmouth should be the first heritage site. The town has the largest collection and some of the finest examples of Georgian architecture in the Caribbean. Once a major centre for sugar and rum exports, it began to decline commercially when larger cargo ships found Montego Bay more convenient. Falmouth stagnated because there was no more economic incentive for development, consequently, most of the town?s structures remained intact. "Falmouth is the best thing that happened to heritage tourism", says Jim Parrant, General Manager of Jamaica Heritage Trails. "In other places most of the buildings worth preserving have already disappeared."

Parrant says that timely maintenance and preservation can save Falmouth, and increase tourism in Trelawny. He has prepared a development and restoration plan that emphasises the town's history, culture and architecture, as well as its strategic importance in tourism and agriculture.

The project will facilitate home restoration by identifying loans, grants and subsidies to home owners to restore their properties. It will also identify sources of financing for individuals and companies to restore historic buildings for commercial use. It will facilitate economic and social development and contribute to improving the quality of life in Falmouth.

Some restoration has already taken place. The Good Hope Great House provides accommodation and tours. The Hampden Sugar Estate offers a guided tour through its rum factory. There is also a sugar industry tour where visitors can see old estates with the remains of water wheels, windmills, cattle mills, and slave hospitals.

A new roof has been put on the Baptist Manse, and the old Barrett House has been stabilized to prevent further deterioration. Several private homes have been refurbished, and there are plans to develop the wharf into a major tourist attraction that will include a Museum on Slavery, shops, restaurants, and craft areas. The Jamaica National Heritage Trust has proposed that Falmouth be declared a National Monument to protect its historic buildings.