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Tourism in Dominica consists mostly of hiking in the rain forest and visiting cruise ships.
Dominica's tourist industry is in its infancy compared to other Caribbean islands. For many years its rugged terrain, lack of white beaches, and underdeveloped infrastructure prevented large-scale tourist development. In recent years, Dominica has successfully marketed itself as the "nature island of the Caribbean," seeking to attract eco-tourists interested in landscapes and wildlife. The government realizes that intensive tourism is incompatible with preserving the island's eco-system and in 1997 signed an agreement with Green Globe, the environmental division of the World Travel and Tourism Council, to develop the island as a "model ecotourism destination." The 3-year program provided technical expertise on environmental management as well as helping to market Dominica through specialist travel companies.
At the same time, the government has encouraged a steady increase in Dominica's tourism capacity, with numerous new hotels being built and considerable investment in cruise ship facilities. The new cruise ship jetty at Prince Rupert Bay, near Portsmouth, has dramatically increased the number of ships calling annually and brought significant tourism-related opportunities to the formerly depressed community of Portsmouth. Annual tourist arrivals are estimated at approximately 200,000, of whom about 75,000 are stay-over visitors. The great majority are cruise ship visitors who spend limited time and money on the island. Revenues from tourism reached US$49 million in 1999.
Compared to many other Caribbean islands, Dominica's tourism industry may be considered to be underdeveloped. It does not have any world-famous chains of hotels.