Centre for Tourism in Islands and Costal Area
Welcome to the Home Page of CENTICA
The Centre for Tourism in Islands and Coastal Areas (CENTICA) has been set up as an explicitly multi-disciplinary research centre to generate policy-relevant analysis for governments, agencies, the private sector and other funders.
The work of CENTICA focuses on producing high quality applied research on the development and management challenges facing tourism in islands and coastal areas. CENTICA has a multi-disciplinary approach since the interconnections between a dominant service industry, such as tourism, and the local political or economic environment are perhaps more apparent than in larger places. Connections may also be seen between service industries such as the relationship between tourism, financial services and information technology in many islands and coastal areas.
Islands and coastal areas are often seen as being very special places and many have unique images in the popular imagination. The attraction of an empty, perfect beach or desert island has a long history in literature, painting and song. Coasts and islands (whether found in cold, temperate, Mediterranean or tropical climates) tend to host significant tourism industries.
Tourism is commonly a key earner of foreign exchange, source of significant local expenditure and creates important local employment. However, tourism in islands and coasts also faces specific challenges for effective economic development including the potential for conflicting interests between different stakeholders and the host communities, and questions of how tourism fits with economic regeneration, land usage and the environmental fragility and sustainable usage of the coastal area.
Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands
The Centre for Tourism in Islands and Coastal Areas (CENTICA) at Kent Business School is unique within world research institutions as it combines a focus on the dynamic sector of tourism with a specialisation in the common challenges facing islands and coastal areas.
In addition to offering research and consultancy services in tourism management, CENTICA offers short courses and executive training in a range of areas.
- Learn about the latest developments in tourism management both theory and practice
- Access to experienced researchers and practitioners for applied research and consulting services
- Be part of a global network of island and coastal tourism managers and organisations
- Participate in a global level speaker programme and seminar series