Between 2023 and 2024, the island of Jamaica made over $4 billion in tourism alone. This is just one of the 13 independent countries that make up the Caribbean islands. With billions of dollars coming in through cruises, hotels, flights, and more, you can only wonder how much, if anything, is going into the hands of local Caribbean people who work in the tourism industry. With more and more of island land getting purchased and leased by outsiders with deep pockets, two women decided it was time to take a stand, organize, and put their Caribbean siblings-in-arms in the spotlight.
Fiona Compton and Jadine Yarde are the co-founders of the Caribbean Green Book. Compton, who is also the founder of Know Your Caribbean, a platform dedicated to educating people about lesser-known Caribbean history, shared how the Caribbean Green Book was named. “ It was inspired by the Green Book, which was for quote-unquote Negro drivers [during] Jim Crow to be able to find Black-owned businesses or safe spaces when they were driving through the United States,” she says. “It was also something that helped to keep money within the community. So that is what the Caribbean Green Book is because up to 80 percent of hotels are foreign-owned.”
In a conversation with the Minister of Tourism for her homeland of St. Lucia, Compton learned that 90 cents of every dollar spent on a St. Lucian vacation does not stay in the island country. “That is scary when you’re looking at how much things are growing, and then it’s still not in our hands.”
Yarde, a first-generation Caribbean-American, has a unique perspective on the complicated tourism situation happening in the Gulf of Mexico. As the former CEO of Tourism for Nevis, she noticed the expanding presence of industrialization on the island. ”We want to bring the dollars in, as that’s what the tourism authorities would say, but at what expense?” Yarde asks. “You’re seeing less land for local development, and then more space for international development. One of the main things I always spoke about was sharing the experience rather than trying to have people come in and perform for [tourists]. It’s more so: This is our culture, this is our experience, and you can experience it with us.”
To balance out the scales to benefit Caribbean people, the Caribbean Green Book has a growing list of locally-owned places to shop, stay, and eat, as well as experiences and services curated by locals. Do you want to stay at a locally-owned eco-lodge in Curacao that’s wheelchair friendly or a family-run beachfront hotel in Negril, Jamaica? They’ve got that. Are you craving gluten-free treats during your stay in Barbados or a trusted oceanside bar-and-grill in Nevis? They have that, too.
What makes the Caribbean Green Book particularly special is that it, in honor of true Caribbean history, it also includes Indigenous-owned businesses throughout the islands. For example, they partner with Tilou Kanawa, a restaurant in the Kalinago Territory on the island of Dominica that is preserving the culture of the island’s first inhabitants. “[The Green Book] is for Black and brown people,” says Compton. “We have Indigenous people and people of Indian descent. [We are] looking at the most economically marginalized communities that have been affected by colonialism. When we look at the Kalinago…why wouldn’t we want to support them?”
The Caribbean Green Book is always expanding, and the ladies are always looking for new people to feature on their website and platforms. They give brands the freedom to choose how they want themselves represented, so if you are a Caribbean person who owns a tourism-adjacent business, you can go to their website and fill out their “Register your Business” form to start the process. They are also hoping to expand their team and build an app that can help conscious travelers organize their trips.
As the Green Book community grows, Yarde and Compton are looking forward to identifying more local wellness service providers, agriculture professionals, and chefs that visitors and residents alike can support. “[There’s always a] lady who makes the best patties, and her name is probably Miss Agnes or something,” Compton says. “But Miss Agnes doesn’t have a website or Instagram, but she makes the best patties in the world, right? How do people who want to vacation in a way that supports people like that? The Caribbean Green Book could be that platform to do that for them.”