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Provokes New Tourism Thinking |
WASHINGTON, DC (May 31, 2001) -- The tourism industry should be the
first choice -- and not the last resort -- for the youngest and brightest
of the Caribbean region. This was a recurring theme at the Caribbean
Media Exchange on Sustainable Tourism (CMEx) which drew scores of journalists
and tourism experts to the Bahamas this month.
The meeting, held at Sandals Royal Bahamian in Nassau May 16-20, took a hard look at the business aspects of tourism industry and featured electric presentations from some of the industry's brightest minds, including Bahamas Director-General of Tourism Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace; Allen Chastanet, senior vice president of Air Jamaica; Peter Greenberg, Travel Editor of NBC's Today Show; Dr. Basil Springer, chairman of the Barbados-based development organisation Counterpart Caribbean; and Dr. James Hospedales, executive director of the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre in Trinidad. The second CMEx conference took up and expanded on the themes of the first - emphasizing the need for the media to scrutinize the economics of the tourism industry on which the Caribbean economies depend so much. A persistent theme was the importance of considering the various stakeholders in tourism: not just the customers but the staff and the local community who all have to benefit from the experience in order to maintain a sustainable industry. In particular, delegates promoted the need to develop, recognize and
reward the skills that the industry needs to be competitive. The industry
should be picking the best, not those who couldn't get other jobs. For
this, education both for staff and the local community is necessary in
the many skills, computers, languages, managerial and accountancy for the
industry and its host society to develop.
Looking to the future, the impending opening up of Cuba to the American market was something that needed preparation and care from the other Caribbean destinations to cope with it. Instead of seeing the massive Cuban hotel construction boom as a threat, journalists argued that the other Caribbean nations should take advantage of the expected Cuban influx to attract some of these visitors to other islands. Governments and the private sector should combine to exploit the region's big comparative advantage: that there were a wide diversity of experiences and islands to be marketed under the "umbrella" of a Caribbean vacation. The new regional marketing campaign, "Life Needs the Caribbean" - to be launched in the coming months, should be strongly supported by the Caribbean's governments, businesses and civil society. And the Caribbean's media should play an instrumental role in educating the average "man on the street" about tourism trends, visitor needs and expectations, and the important role Caribbean communities can continue playing in shaping the sustainable development of the indsutry and the region. The CMEx team, which comprises Counterpart International, its affiliate Counterpart Caribbean, Air Jamaica, Caribbean Broadcasting Union, Caribbean Hotel Association, Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism (CHA's Environmental Arm), EarthVoice and Great Places in the Caribbean (Life Needs the Caribbean), was supported by American Express, Ansbacher Bank, Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Barbados Tourism Authority, British Colonial Hilton, Hilton Caribbean, Cable and Wireless, Central Bank of Barbados, Club Med, Half Moon Golf, Tennis and Beach Club, Caves of Barbados, Glamour Tours (Jamaica), Leisure Tours, LIAT, McHari Institute, Nassau Beach Hotel, Sandals Resorts, SuperClubs and United Nations Development Programme. |
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Lorraine Ortiz [email protected] |