CARIBBEAN: Patricia Affonso-Dass President Caribbean Hotel And Tourism Association On Region’s Tourism

President of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), Patricia Affonso-Dass, has expressed optimism about the future of the region’s tourism sector, saying that its rich past and many successes have served the region well.

In her New Year’s message Affonso-Dass said the sector’s attainment has provided a sound foundation for the future.

Looking ahead, I have a real sense of optimism about our opportunities if we learn from the past, stay clearly focused on the future and appreciate the critical importance of reinventing and improving our businesses, our processes and our people, she said.

We must be nimble, adaptable and innovative in this era of constant change.

Affonso-Dass said 2018 was a reminder about how resilient our people and our industry are, as a number of the region’s destinations and hotels bounced back from unparalleled destruction in 2017, rebuilding smarter, better and sometimes bigger.

We got a peek into the future as over 5,000 new hotels rooms came online regionally in 2018 with over 25,000 more in the construction and planning stages, she said, noting that existing hotels continue to invest in refurbishments and introducing new services and amenities.

The CHTA head said the region witnessed an unprecedented surge in new airlift into the region in 2019, presenting more opportunities to entice travelers to our shores.

She said investor and government confidence in the Caribbean tourism’s future was further buoyed, as hundreds of millions of dollars were spent on upgraded and expanded airport facilities.

But Affonso-Dass said the region’s glass is half full” asking: Are we pouring or drinking? How do we continually adapt in an era of accelerated change when technology, competition, consumer expectations, economic and political uncertainty and climate change challenge us?

She noted that these are all external factors over which she said the region has little sway.

The abundance of opportunity lies within ourselves, Affonso-Dass said. Through our companies, destination DMOs or Destination Marketing Organization, National Hotel and Tourism Associations, and regional stakeholder groups like CHTA and the Caribbean Tourism Organization, owners, operators, government partners, and individuals have an even greater capacity to positively and collectively impact tourism’s future and our bottom lines.

How willing are we to give back in order to get back? she asked. Are we as individuals and companies taking ownership in our industry by being engaged and supportive beyond the day-to-day challenges of operating our businesses?

It is amazing what can be achieved through a commitment to cooperation, collaboration, open communication and mutual respect,” she added. “We have all of the necessary elements in our communities, businesses, governments and destinations to excel and to lead as the world’s most desirable tourism region.

Let us, in 2019, commit to recognizing and developing talent wherever we see it; to critically assessing our processes in both the public and private sectors to make sure that they facilitate more than restrict; to using all means possible to inform and educate our people about the value and importance of tourism to our region and the critical role that they play in its success; and most importantly, to doing whatever we can to engender a greater sense of pride and care in our people, our environment and our region as a whole, Affonso-Dass continued.

There is great power in the collective, she said. As tourism stakeholders, let’s work to better harness this.


Tourism Observer

BAHAMAS: Bahamas PM Emphasizes Importance Of Tourism Sector To Region Development

The annual Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) Market place is under way here with Bahamas Prime Minister Perry Christie underscoring the importance of the tourism sector to the socio-economic development of the Caribbean.

Christie addressing the three-day event, said that tourism as a direct contribution to Caribbean gross domestic product (GDP) was three per cent in 2015 compared to the worldwide average of 3.7 per cent.

He said the sector as a total contribution to Caribbean GDP rose by 2.9 per cent last year and is expected to increase by 3.3 per cent of GDP per annum each year over the next decade, against the worldwide average of 3.8 per cent.

He said in the region, total capital investment in tourism grew by 4.2 per cent in 2015, as compared to the worldwide average of 4.8 per cent.

“All of this suggests that while we are holding our own in tourism in the Caribbean, we must do much better if we are to meet the needs and expectations of Caribbean citizens over the next decade and that we must be intent on giving prioritized focus to those drivers of our economies that will leverage our tourism assets for continued and accelerated growth in the years to come.”

Christie said he welcomed the move by the United States to re-open diplomatic relations with Cuba and to work toward completely lifting the trade embargo.

“With the US trade embargo eliminated, Cuba will enter the Caribbean arena as a heavy weight contender for the region’s share of the tourism trade. Among Cuba’s many attractions is her novelty and human beings are naturally attracted to what is new.

“But let’s keep in mind that there is an upside to stiff competition. Competition motivates us to reach deep within and bring out qualities that we are unaware that we possess. All nations seek to strengthen their economic position through collaboration with neighbouring countries.

“Cuba is no exception. Already, several of our destinations have entered into agreements with Cuba to do joint tourism marketing and to create multiple destination packages,” Christie said, noting “for us in the Caribbean, it is no longer business as usual.

“We are at that juncture in our development as tourism dependent nations where the name of our region must become synonymous, bar none, with world class, impeccable service, value for money, top rate accommodations and wonderfully memorable vacation experiences.

“The upside is that today’s global economic landscape continues to provide opportunities for each of the Caribbean’s tourism destinations, even as our governments seek to mitigate challenges such as infrastructure development, energy security, technological advancement, citizen security and climate change that impact tourism development.”

Christie said that the three-day event here has attracted participation from Latin America and other global emerging markets which are well poised to tap into mainstream and niche tourism and hospitality products available throughout the Caribbean region.

But he said he was perturbed at the increase in “random, wanton acts of terrorism in areas around the globe that are highly frequented by tourists.

“The constant threat of terrorism creates a psychology of anxiety. It is our earnest hope that peace would soon be restored to those regions. In selecting the Caribbean for their clients’ next holiday, travel professionals the world over can have peace of mind that our region is one of calm and stability.

“The Caribbean is a region full of tropical dream vacation destinations that persons around the world desire to visit at least once in a lifetime. There are enough island gems in our region for the traveller to collect one, two or three each year for decades to come.

“While we are proud of our product offering we are also acutely aware that tourism is the world’s largest industry and that global competition for the traveller is fierce,” Christie added.

Prime Minister Christie said an area of growing concern, however, to the tourism industry stakeholders, and which is also gaining his attention, is the increasingly high cost of taxes and fees on air travel to and within the region.

He said air-related taxes and fees for travel to the Caribbean can represent over half of the cost of an airline ticket for a number of destinations.

“Arguments have been presented by the private sector which contend that by reducing the cost of air travel, primarily through tax and fee reductions, we will stimulate more travel to the Caribbean and government revenues will be protected and even enhanced through an increase in visitor arrivals.

“There is some evidence that this would be the case. When the United Kingdom reduced the air passenger duty, travel increased. Here in The Bahamas, when we adjusted some of our fees to the airlines, some of the airlift we lost which was attributed to the fees returned. We’ve seen examples throughout the region of how air and cruise travel has been stimulated when the cost of travel is reduced.”

But Christie said that at the same time with greatly reduced fuel costs on the world market and the use of more fuel efficient aircraft, “it is only reasonable to expect the benefit of these cost reductions to be passed on to the travelling public, thereby stimulating additional travel and leaving the tourist with more money to spend within the destination, and giving the region a better competitive edge.

“The cruise lines provide ample evidence to us about how price stimulates travel and how occupancy rates can be increased with pricing strategies,” he said, adding “most cruises to the Caribbean are operating at, or near, 100 per cent occupancy.

“Compare that to our hotels which are operating at between 65 and 70 per cent occupancy, and you see the tremendous growth opportunity which already exist without a single additional investment in new hotels.

“Raising occupancy rates by ten percent would go a long way in increasing employment and tax revenues. Concomitant with such an initiative thought must be the thrust toward employee training for sustained improvements in service delivery.

“This is but one way that we can improve tourism performance and accelerate the rate of growth of our economies beyond international forecasts.

“Growing tourism performance to beat the odds means that we will be forced to innovate and to push the boundaries of our knowledge, abilities and capacities to enable us to declare our tourism industry as “cutting edge” as we seek to remain both individually and regionally competitive in an arena which will continue to power not only our economies but the global economy over the next decade,” Christie added.

First Caribbean Tourism And Hospitality Guide For Investors To Be Launched This Week

The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), in association with the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), has produced the first Caribbean Tourism and Hospitality Investment Guide targeted at international investors.

The publication showcases a wide range of investment opportunities in the tourism and hospitality sector in CTO member states and lists incentives that Caribbean Governments are offering to attract new business.

The Investment Guide focuses on the performance of the region’s tourism and hospitality sector and Caribbean economies. It also highlights increased airlift to the region and new investments in the industry – a reflection of investor confidence in the region.

“Ours is an attractive and desirable destination with a strong, competitive advantage due to our natural resources and authentic experiences,” CTO Chairman Richard Sealy, Barbados Minister of Tourism and International Transport, said. “Investing in the Caribbean makes good business sense. We know it and we are proud to produce a guide that illustrates it.”

CHTA President Emil Lee urged investors to use the document to learn about the “incredible opportunities” which can be realized from investing in the Caribbean and noted that despite its growing pains, the Caribbean tourism industry continues to expand and diversify. “Public-private initiatives at the regional and destination levels are actively addressing those issues which are important to the industry globally . . . lowering utility costs, improving the visitor experience, holding the line on taxes, incentivizing investments, and maximizing productivity through investments in our people.” he commented.

The publication was produced by marketing, communications and investment promotion specialist, Sandra Ann Baptiste, who was the first head of the Guyana Office for Investment (GO INVEST).

It will be distributed at the 2015 Caribbean Hotel Investment Conference and Operations Summit (CHICOS) which takes place in Puerto Rico November 12 and 13, and at CTO’s Caribbean Week in Canada business events next week.

The guide is one of the deliverables of the New York-based CTO USA Inc. office headed by Sylma Brown.

PUERTO RICO: Adam Stewart Named Caribbean Hotelier Of The Year

Chief Executive Officer of Sandals Resort International (SRI) Adam Stewart copped the Caribbean Hotelier of the Year Award which was presented by the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA).

The presentation was made during the Caribbean Hospitality Industry Exchange Forum (CHIEF), which took place from October 2 – 4 at El Conquistador Resort, A Waldorf Astoria Resort in Puerto Rico.

Stewart is the 35th recipient of the award and is the highest professional honor bestowed in hotel and resort operations in the Caribbean.

The award recognizes excellence in all areas of operations, as well as a commitment to the training and development of staff, contributions to the community and a demonstrated commitment to sound environmental practices. It also acknowledges each recipient's active role in both national and regional issues affecting Caribbean tourism.

JAMAICA: Leveraging One Caribbean Tourism Despite Competition

Despite competition among Caribbean destinations, there has to be collaboration and cooperation to strengthen the Caribbean brand

Tourism is one of the fastest-growing industries globally. It has come to the rescue of many underdeveloped and developing countries, where it has replaced traditional industries such as agriculture and manufacturing. As World Tourism Day is being celebrated, it is imperative to reflect on the emergence and evolution of tourism in the Caribbean and to contemplate the future of this industry in a region that highly depends on tourism economy.

While this contemplation goes on, changes are taking place in the Caribbean tourism landscape. Changes are inevitable, but more so with the phenomenon of tourism. People's desire to travel, preferences and needs change. A destination's target market will also change, so do the physical and natural landscape of any tourism offering due to human and environmental disturbance. Economic indicators will also change. There will be new developments in technology that will force change in operations. There will be change in political systems which will influence policy decisions and operation of the tourism industry. Change will always occur, but it is not the change that should be the worrisome issue; rather, how prepared a tourism destination is , be it a country or region, to mitigate the impacts.

The dynamic nature of tourism leverages changes to the modus operandi in the Caribbean region, hence, the discussion on a Caribbean Tourism Model and the Caribbean Basin Tourism Initiative.

Caribbean Tourism Model

There have been several endorsements for tourism development in the Caribbean. The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) continues to encourage tourism development in countries such as those in the Caribbean because of its potential to grow economies.

Perry Christie, prime minister of The Bahamas, in his address to the Caricom Community at the opening of the 36th Caricom heads of government summit in Barbados, emphasised that tourism development should be taken more seriously, and thus should be on the agenda of heads of government and regional meetings. He stressed the importance of tourism development in reducing unemployment and debt burdens and growing the economies of the region.

This message was not left unheard. The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) hosted a four-day workshop in July of this year to conceptualise new ideas and fresh thinking in order to reinvent the Caribbean tourism product under the theme 'Developing Viable and Sustainable Tourism Products'. The Singapore Model was used as the benchmark for the forum.

But, what is the Singapore Model, and can this leverage change to tourism development in the Caribbean? This model focuses on four key areas: tourism experience, tourism planning, tourism product development, and tourism destination and products. This model is based on a "YourSingapore" destination brand and a vision that speaks to "a vibrant and inspiring Destination Singapore". It is built on the premise of "a dynamic tourism landscape for Singapore in partnership with industry and community". The Singapore Model is based on long-term strategic planning and a marketing thrust that pushes the destination as a place for business, leisure, health care, and education. The "YourSingapore" destination brand suggests ownership of tourism by the stakeholders, inclusive of visitors and residents. Increase in visitor numbers is planned carefully through a yield-driven quality growth strategy. There is strong collaboration between the tourism board in Singapore and industry stakeholders to create value for visitors, increase industry performance, competitiveness and business opportunities, and establish long-term partnerships. The outcome of this model is that Singapore, which is only 700 square kilometres, has an average of 15 million visitors per year. Bearing in mind that Jamaica is 15 times larger in land mass than Singapore.

It is the aspiration of CTO to have a Caribbean tourism model. Let us analyse some realities. Singapore is only one country while there are several countries in the Caribbean. Can the Caribbean tourism model benchmark this vision and mission within a framework of divided land mass and varying political, social and economic systems?

What was most profound in Prime Minister Christie's message at the summit was his remark that the next generation will have a "much greater burden to carry if we don't begin to focus on ways to make our natural strengths stronger". This suggests that tourism operations in the region cannot operate the usual way. It has to be rejuvenated with new and complementary product offerings to attract and engage the tourist and create competitive advantage amongst other tourist regions, bearing in mind that this has to be done in a sustainable way. Sustainable tourism development suggests that the needs of visitors, residents and other stakeholders be met, taking into consideration the political, environmental, economic, social, and cultural environment in order to preserve the resources for future generations (UNWTO, 2011). Sustainable tourism development is no longer a buzz concept, but what is required now to ensure that this economic phenomenon continues to exist.

Can tourism development in the Caribbean be sustainable? Caribbean tourism is based predominantly on physiography and tropical climate. With the onset of climate change and its effects on these resources, there is the need for in-depth focus and analysis as to what to do now so that tourism can continue to exist. Being small island states and developing economies, it can be difficult to introduce and implement some of the measures to ensure sustainability. Greater economic benefit is gained from the mass tourism model. Tourism considered to be sustainable is not profitable, and the power law distribution theory explains that mass tourism provides more revenue than niche markets.

Whilst Caribbean countries depend on foreign direct investment via tourism, there are associated economic costs, mainly economic leakage, occurring from the importation of goods and services outside of the region. Is it that Caribbean countries will be providing more goods and services within the region to supply each other and reduce economic leakage? This would be a very good opportunity for the growth of supporting industries such as information technology, banking and finance, agriculture and manufacturing. This would be welcoming to residents; providing them with the needed employment opportunities. Scholars have found that residents will favour and support tourism development if they will derive economic benefit. There will be demand for education and training in the various areas, and so these institutions are poised to benefit from industry linkages. Competent human capacity is one of the pillars of economic and social empowerment.

Caribbean Basin Tourism Basin Initiative

The Caribbean Hotel and Tourist Association (CHTA) is suggesting a Caribbean Basin Tourism Initiative with the United States of America (US) for regional tourism development where all Caribbean countries will benefit. This stems from the anticipated disruption of the US tourism market in the region due to the restoration of diplomatic relations between them and Cuba, which should lead to the removal of US-imposed embargo. This renewed USA-Cuba relationship is perceived to be a threat to tourism in many Caribbean countries. The prediction is that more Americans will be visiting Cuba, and so countries such as Jamaica and The Bahamas, which are popular destinations in the region for American visitors, will face a decline in that market, thus disrupting their tourism economy.

Tourism in Cuba is not new, and therefore is not new competition. Like many other countries in the region, tourism has been used to counter the effect of the declining sugar industry and to diversify the economy. In 2014, Cuba had a visitor count of over three million with the majority coming from Canada, seconded by Europe. Certainly, US travellers will want to visit Cuba because of the newness of the product to them. The unknown destination and the curiosity surrounding the Pearl of the Caribbean; Cuba's political history, cultural practices, norms, history, and heritage; and even nostalgia for Cubans who migrated, among other features that the "new tourist is seeking", will drive this market. Hence, there will be new competition in the region for US visitors.

The anticipated increase in visitor interest to Cuba, especially from the US, should not be a deterrent to tourism in other Caribbean destinations. It should be a change where leverage can be applied to maximise regional competition through 'collaborative tourism'. There are numerous possibilities surrounding regional tourism partnership and collaboration to include the building of human expertise for the industry, expansion in manufacturing and trading of goods and services to supply the region, thus increasing sufficiency and retaining economic gain for further growth and development, and benchmarking best practices to strengthen tourism operations.

Countries such as the Dominican Republic and Jamaica already have long-standing relationships with Cuba, and this would further facilitate partnership in tourism. One of Jamaica's local hotel chains, Sandals Resorts International, currently operates in the wider Caribbean, their model could be used to bridge some of the divides, such as cultural differences and trade relations. There are possibilities of island hopping for countries in close proximity to Cuba and increase airlift to the region from across the world, making the Caribbean more accessible. Common among Caribbean people is the taste for spicy and sweet foods. Food, condiments and confectionaries made in the region can be traded among country destinations.

According to CHTA , American visitors who seek vacation packages on impulse may now prefer to travel to Cuba because of the proximity. It means that the rest of the Caribbean can benefit from long-haul visitors through strategic marketing. All of this requires leverage of change and co-operation. Despite competition among Caribbean destinations, there has to be collaboration and co-operation to strengthen the Caribbean brand. However, the questions are: Is the need for change recognised by all Caribbean destinations? Are these changes desirable? Can these changes occur? The challenge is how to bypass the political, socio-cultural and economic differences among Caribbean destinations and collectively benefit from the 'One billion tourist, one billion opportunities' (World Tourism Day 2015 theme).

Caricom, CTO and CHTA all have very important roles in charting this pathway.

Despite competition among Caribbean destinations, there has to be collaboration and co-operation to strengthen the Caribbean brand.