In September 2011, the Delegate to Congress, Dr. Donna Christian, announced that the US Department of Interior Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) had awarded nearly $300,000 in technical assistance grants to Virgin Islands organizations for cultural tourism development, environmental health and anti-gang projects.

The public is invited to a Press Conference, Monday Dec. 19th at 10 am at office of SUCCEED, Inc. at the Caribbean Museum Center for the Arts, 10 Strand Street, Frederiksted for an update on the two projects focused on cultural tourism development: “St. Croix Action for Heritage Economics and Development” (St. Croix AHEAD), and “Heritage Tourism in the United States Virgin Islands”. Both projects were funded based on evidence of effective collaboration by local entities.

St. Croix AHEAD is a joint project of St. Croix United for Community, Culture, Environment and Economic Development, Inc.(SUCCEED) and the St. Croix Environmental Association(SEA).  The Delegate to Congress referred to St. Croix AHEAD as “designed to address community economic development by the furtherance of a “smart growth” agenda for St. Croix by improving and expanding U.S. Virgin Islands tourism products for a strong position in the geo-tourism market.”

The St. Croix AHEAD project will take steps to revitalize the St. Croix Heritage Trail project. Based on our initial meeting with St. Croix Landmarks Society, we hope to have their input on updates to the maps. The project will also produce a booklet on migration of St Croix‟s maroons – enslaved Africans who escaped from the plantations to find freedom in Puerto Rico and elsewhere. SUCCEED is excited about the potential for expanded foundational research and publication that reveals a rich and untold story of this quest for freedom by enslaved Africans.

This OIA grant funds will support SUCCEED‟s West, East, and mid-Isle forum on smart-growth that will be followed by community planning sessions on economic development and entrepreneurship linked to heritage and geotourism. These gatherings will build on SUCCEED‟s previous efforts to share information about “smart growth” and to build community-wide consensus on feasible and desirable policies and activities for fueling the engine of geotourism .

In conjunction with SUCCEED‟s efforts, the territory-wide USVI Heritage Tourism Survey will be conducted by PhD Candidate Nate Olive, who is a National Geographic Society Geotourism Ambassador and Executive Director of St. Croix‟s Ridge to Reef at the Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute (R2RVISFI). The study will compare actual tourism market segments with the preferences and perceptions of local tourism stakeholders and will address the distinct natural and cultural characteristics of St. Thomas, St John, and St. Croix. The project also aims to distinguish the USVI as a unique destination from other Caribbean island nations. The scientifically valid recommendations in this work will provide a solid basis for development of public policy, business counseling, and public education and will include social and economic benefits. According to Delegate Donna Christian,” The $58,000 project is a “comprehensive study that will present a model of heritage tourism and draw attention to the lucrative possibility of a heritage designation for the USVI.”

In competition with over 80 countries and thousands of projects, St. Croix is now one of just 20 destinations on the National Geographic Society Geotourism Impact Map. This honor is the result of R2RVISFI‟s collaboration with CHANT and a mosaic of individuals demonstrating, again, the importance and benefits of effective collaboration.

Both projects will have a strong and positive impact on the US Congress‟ deliberation on the designation of St. Croix as a National Heritage Area. For more than seven years (7) Delegate Christian has spearheaded the effort to obtain the NHA designation for St Croix, and she was instrumental in generating a response to the OIA grant fund availability.