Institutional mediation as a form of cultural infrastructure: enabling place-based tourism through community cultural actors in rural Jamaica

Cultural actors are central to place-based tourism, yet institutional mechanisms enabling their meaningful engagement remain underexplored, particularly in marginalized rural contexts. This paper examines how public institutions function as cultural infrastructure by mediating relationships between community-based tourism enterprises and tourism markets. Drawing on an embedded case study of the Yaad Luv campaign in rural Jamaica, implemented under the Second Rural Economic Development Initiative, the study identifies four interrelated mediation functions – narrative, capacity-building, market, and governance – through which institutional action enabled over 100 enterprises to participate in tourism while retaining cultural authorship. Findings highlight the role of coordinated multi-agency collaboration and specialized expertise in addressing structural barriers, advancing scholarship on creative tourism, cultural policy, and inclusive rural development.