Worldwide, contracting economies and violence threaten our vital tourist industry. In order to remain viable, we must not only sell sun, sand and sea, we must also sell safety.

The recent deadly terrorist attacks in Mumbai have brought safety to the fore once again. The terrorists specifically sought out American and British citizens (our main sources of tourist income). Now, more than ever, vacationers have developed a heightened sense of the need for secure places to visit. Jamaica is in the perfect position to offer a safe vacation getaway because we are an extremely unlikely target for international terrorists, but our local crime stats are ponderous. Our crime and murder rates continue to scare off many potential visitors.

We advertise Jamaica and its friendly faces, yet we are often forced to separate our people from foreign visitors by sequestering them behind the high security walls of our all-inclusive hotels and resorts. We even construct facsimile shopping enclaves, like Island Village in Ocho Rios, to keep hustlers from hassling tourists. Sometimes when I see visitors being ferried in air-conditioned buses along our beautiful country roads and through our unique and historic cities, I'm reminded of shutterbugs touring the wilds of Africa while being kept a safe distance from ferocious animals in the relative safety of their airtight vehicles.

No tourist can truly appreciate our island from behind the glass of a tour bus, from behind the walls of a posh resort, from the uniformity of prearranged tours to specific localities or from within the confines of certain touristy coastal towns. The uniquely Jamaican 'one love' experience that we advertise is an absolute sham if we must keep our visitors from our people. Staged and rehearsed friendliness from a few tour guides and entertainers is a hypocritical representation of our country and culture.

Friendly paradise

We are faced with the dilemma of inviting visitors to our so-called friendly paradise while robberies, rapes and murders continue unabated. We try to keep tourists safe in towns developed around that industry even though murder and mayhem insidiously and inexorably encroach on our prized possessions.

Although outgoing Secretary of State, Dr Condoleezza Rice, curtly responded to a query as to why America trades with communist China but nixes interaction with Cuba by saying: "Because it's in our backyard"; I thought that the incoming Obama administration would have opened the doors to Cuba and caused the siphoning off of a significant number of tourists to that island.

However, Russia is miffed at America's defence missile locations in their backyard so, President Dmitry Medvedev has overtly re-established links with Cuban President Raul Castro, retired president Fidel Castro, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Bolivia's Evo Morales and Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega (not Washington's favourite people). I now expect that the embargo will remain for some time to come. That's bad for Cuba, but it buys us time to get our act together.

Getting our act together where tourism is concerned will mean more than the usual policing and social intervention for crime control. We must give our people a stake in the tourist industry. The financial benefits of tourism can't simply go into the invisible abyss of the Consolidated Fund. Tourist dollars must be manifestly pumped directly into the development of the adjoining communities and then into needy communities across the island.

Tangible gains

Once our underprivileged reap the tangible gains from keeping our tourists happy and safe, they will have a vested interest in keeping crime down and stopping the harassment of and illicit drug selling to tourists.

Dr Garth A. Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice. Feedback may be sent to garthrattray@gmail.com or columns@gleanerjm.com