Laborie Blue Tourism Update

January 31, 2026

Community based tourism in the coastal village of Laborie is now poised to gather new momentum. Since November 2025, Under the leadership of the team at the Laborie Development Foundation, the Blue Tourism Initiative has been steadily weaving together the threads of sustainability and innovation. The first signs of progress appeared in the form of the revamped ilovelaborie webpage and a community tourism database, featuring living records of the village’s accommodations, restaurants, tours, and cultural experiences. While these elements are still being tested, they are beginning to provide but already provides a window into Laborie’s community-based tourism—as a place where visitors can discover not just where to stay, but how to truly experience community life. The website in particular, the digital face of Laborie has been refreshed. The redesigned ilovelaborie.org website is now open for testing, its bright imagery and welcoming design inviting the world to explore. For the next four weeks, stakeholders and residents alike will have the chance to shape how Laborie presents itself online, ensuring that authenticity shines through every page.

But perhaps the most vibrant heartbeat of the project has been the weekly workshops. Since January 21, every Wednesday has brought together a diverse group of stakeholders—women and men, small accommodation owners and restaurateurs, tour guides, boat owners, seamoss farmers and conch harvesters. Between 60 and 75 percent of those who registered have remained committed, with women making up the majority. Discussions have ranged from the principles of Blue Tourism to the practicalities of marketing, sustainability, and building Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) clusters.

These workshops are more than training sessions—they are conversations about identity, resilience, and challenges and opportunities. They will culminate on March 11, setting the stage for formalized clusters and curated visitor experiences. Already, the seeds of collaboration are sprouting small accommodations joining forces with restaurants, tour operators developing plans for partnering with other traditional livelihoods, and sustainability practices being woven into every plan.

The vision is clear. By early April 2026, Laborie will host a community launch event, unveiling its Blue Tourism products to the world. It will be a celebration not just of tourism, but of community pride and shared achievement.

Moving forward, to ensure that this vision is attained, Laborie should continue to:

Celebrate authenticity by highlighting traditions, cuisine, and storytelling in every visitor experience.

Leverage digital tools so the redesigned website becomes a gateway for seamless bookings and cultural discovery.

Strengthen MSME clusters to create bundled packages that showcase the richness of Laborie’s offerings.

Embed sustainability in every step, from eco‑friendly practices to conservation activities that visitors can join.

Champion inclusivity, keeping women and youth at the forefront of leadership and innovation.

Laborie’s journey is more than a tourism project—it is a story of a community stepping confidently into the future, guided by the waves of Blue Tourism, its picturesque landscape and the strength and warmth of its people.

The Blue Tourism Initiative (BTI) is co-funded by the French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM) and supported by Our Blue Future (GIZ), the World Bank, the UN Environment Program (UNEP), and project partners including IDDRI, eco-union, IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation, CANARI, and CORDIO. Implementation in Laborie, Saint Lucia is being coordinated by the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI). Its goal is to strengthen Laborie’s tourism by improving the quality and availability of community tourism information, experiences, marketing, and capacity, while safeguarding ecosystems and cultural heritage, and ensuring tourism drives both economic growth and sustainable development.