{"id":210578,"date":"2026-07-28T06:35:40","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T10:35:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/?p=210578"},"modified":"2026-07-27T10:29:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T14:29:05","slug":"community-tourism-thrives-on-jamaicas-laidback-south-coast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/community-tourism-thrives-on-jamaicas-laidback-south-coast\/","title":{"rendered":"Community tourism thrives on Jamaica\u2019s laidback south coast"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-210592\" src=\"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ACA-2026-1062-x-600-px-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1062\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ACA-2026-1062-x-600-px-2.png 1062w, https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ACA-2026-1062-x-600-px-2-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ACA-2026-1062-x-600-px-2-1024x579.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ACA-2026-1062-x-600-px-2-768x434.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1062px) 100vw, 1062px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>For clients looking for an alternative to all-inclusive travel, community tourism thrives on the Jamaica\u2019s laidback south coast with boutique hotels and authentic local experiences.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>A colourful turquoise boat with orange and pink accents on the outskirts of town reads \u201cWelcome to Treasure Beach, Home of Community Tourism.\u201d The sign sets the tone for what to expect in the unassuming area on Jamaica\u2019s south coast. As there are no high-rise buildings in sight, the scene is noticeably different from the bustling developed areas in Jamaica lined with all-inclusive resort chains, writes Managing Editor Ann Ruppenstein in the latest print issue of Travel Courier.<\/p>\n<p>The vibe is more authentic, more laidback and intentionally more locally-minded. In fact, the community of Treasure Beach voted not to have its density restrictions lifted in order to protect itself from large-scale development.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCalling the area Treasure Beach, the home of community tourism, the reason I wanted that tagline is that I want the message to be clear to developers: you can come in but you need to respect what we do here,\u201d explains Jason Henzell, the owner of Jakes Resort and a well-known advocate for the region. \u201cWe earned that tagline, we fought for that tagline. It\u2019s real, it\u2019s seeped in hard work and lobbying. I hope they never lift the restrictions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.travelcourier.ca\/digital-edition\/101626_072326_tc\/?page=11\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-210594 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/TC-mockup-750x484-13.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"484\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/TC-mockup-750x484-13.png 750w, https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/TC-mockup-750x484-13-300x194.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>For the full story, check out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.travelcourier.ca\/digital-edition\/101626_072326_tc\/?page=11\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the latest issue of TRAVEL COURIER.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For clients looking for an alternative to all-inclusive travel, community tourism thrives on the Jamaica\u2019s laidback south coast with boutique hotels and authentic local experiences. A colourful turquoise boat with orange and pink accents on the outskirts of town reads \u201cWelcome to Treasure Beach, Home of Community Tourism.\u201d The sign sets the tone for what<span class=\"ellipsis\">&hellip;<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/community-tourism-thrives-on-jamaicas-laidback-south-coast\/\">more &#8250;<\/a>","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":210592,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"kia_subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1597,1,277,112],"tags":[3755,1854],"front_page":[113],"class_list":["post-210578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jamaica","category-news","category-on-the-road-again","category-responsible-travel","tag-community-tourism","tag-jamaica","front_page-lede-story"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210578"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210578\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":210597,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210578\/revisions\/210597"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210578"},{"taxonomy":"front_page","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/front_page?post=210578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}