The problem with tourism is that as much as it brings in foreign curreny it also spends it.
Many of the hotels and resorts are foreign owned, and much of the food and liquor that is consumed by tourists has to be imported as well.
The point you make is true though. TnT, by the luck of geology, does not have to be dependent on tourists to support our economy
and yes our beaches are not the best in the Caribbean but I've never felt deprived because of the quality of our beaches.
It is an indication of how ingrained tourism is in your national psyche that you place such value on white sand beaches.
BTW bauxite is not such a high value export as you think. The cost per ton of raw bauxite is only about $127 (if processed into alumina it rises to $195/ton and Jamaica's bauxite industry must import large amounts of caustic soda and heavy machinery to mine and export the ore, making the industry highly import intensive.
The real money would be in converting the raw bauxite to aluminium ($127 per ton of bauxite as opposed to $2200 per ton of aluminium) but that would require large amounts of energy.
Dr. Williams once offered a partnership with the Jamaican Gov't whereby we would pool to resources to convert the bauxite to aluminium thereby breaking the colonial traditon of exporting only raw materials and instead manufacturing the final product our selves.
Funny thing...they rejected the offer and continue to export the raw bauxite and processed aluminato this day.
Anyway I think a pan on the jersey would be a great idea.