As has happened on numerous occasions in the past, Jamaica’s tourism sector — now at the start of the Winter Tourist Season — is benefiting from extremely cold temperatures in the northern Hemisphere.

We are told that for the first week of the season, which began on December 15, there was a “record” 9.6 per cent increase in stopover visitors as vacationers from North America and Europe seek warmer climes.

That’s good news for an economy in the vice-like grip of the long-running global recession and which is heavily dependent on the tourism sector.

Lest we forget, in 2009, even as the recession hit hard, 1.83 million stopover visitors to Jamaica spent an estimated US$1.85 billion here.

Of course, the cold spell won’t last and Jamaica’s tourism can’t be dependent on such temporary occurrences. The long-term plan is for an integrated product that will sustainably benefit the entire country and its people.

That’s why recent news of the development of an aerodrome by the Henzell family close to Treasure Beach in South West St Elizabeth takes on special significance.

Taken by itself, an airstrip to accommodate very small planes carrying no more than a few people at a time may seem insignificant.

But the wider context of Treasure Beach on Jamaica’s unfashionable South Coast makes the development special. Up to 20 years ago, Treasure Beach was little more than a collection of small villages and coves dedicated to fishing.

Today, it is an increasingly recognised resort particularly attractive to visitors who crave peace, quiet and areas far from the beaten track.

Like many other locations on the South Coast, the vision Treasure Beach has for itself embraces community-based tourism, separate and distinct from the dominant product on the exotic North and West coasts where the great majority of our winter visitors are headed. That community tourism vision, as this newspaper understands it, has no place for large hotel chains — whether all-inclusive or otherwise — and other developments conducive to the fast-paced lifestyle to be found in and around the tourism meccas such as Montego Bay and Ocho Rios.

Rather, resorts like Treasure Beach seek to safely involve visitors in the very life of a rural community through close contact with locals. Tourists are encouraged to visit the local bars and restaurants partaking of the local fare. They hike, bird watch, fish, play sport and are involved in a range of other activities in happy consort with the host community. Good beaches means they are also able to indulge in the ‘sun, sand and sea’ experience.

But even community tourism must grow. It is that reality that has now helped to spur the development of an aerodrome. Conceptualiser, hotelier Jason Henzell claims the airstrip will help in the making of Treasure Beach as “a premier destination in the Caribbean”.

His long-term plan is to, over time, transform the airstrip that is named for his late grand uncle Lionel Densham — a legend in St Elizabeth — into a small, tasteful airport.

Henzell is not only a businessman but head of the St Elizabeth Parish Development Committee and a natural leader who has sought to submerge himself in the sustainable development of his community.

He, as much as anyone else, will recognise that Treasure Beach’s expansion and development without losing its uniquely precious essence will be a major challenge requiring a very fine balancing act.

We wish the people of Treasure Beach well as they seek to maximise the benefits of tourism without losing their identity and sense of well-being.