Hotel Online  Special Report

advertisement
-
Caribbean Media Exchange on Sustainable Tourism
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.
 

In the discussion about HIV/sex and tourism, journalists raised the issue of lack of support from editors and publishers for investigative reporting on this and other issues and suggested that all too often the media neglected problems. The media industry too should be picking and rewarding the best journalists from the Caribbean region to raise the journalistic quality.

Certain inhibitions often prevent frank discussion of sexually related matters, participants argued. Intolerant social attitudes towards persons infected with HIV, for example, led to widespread ignorance. The sensual nature of Caribbean culture coupled with the lack of compelling communications tools lead to increased risk.
 


CMEx panelists discussing the importance of Embracing Black Tourism. From left: Cybelle Brown (BET International), Julie Bayley Boyce (Uniworld Group)  and Elinor Tatum (Amsterdam News). Photo: Majella van der Werf (Counterpart International). 

 
In relation to Black American Tourism, people got a better sense of the size, scope and scale of the African American market and its buying power.  The Black community is not just lower to middle class, quipped one delegate, and there are tremendous opportunities to tap all segements of the market for which travel has long been a priority. The discussion provoked an interest in more dialogue between African Americans and West Indians in resolving differences between these communities. Experts called for more advertising by the Caribbean tourism industry in the Black media, in particular community-based outlets. Also, for more Black journalists to be included in press and familiarisation visits to the region.

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.

 

###

Contact:
Lorraine Ortiz
[email protected]


 
Also See After a 20-year Dormant Period, The Former Jack Tar Resort Resurrected as Old Bahama Bay in West End, Grand Bahama Island / May 2001 
Our Lucaya, Formerly The Lucayan, Completing a $400 million Development on Grand Bahama Island / Sept 2000 


To search Hotel Online data base of News and Trends Go to Hotel.Online Search

Home | Welcome! | Hospitality News | Classifieds | Catalogs & Pricing | Viewpoint Forum | Ideas/Trends
Please contact Hotel.Online with your comments and suggestions.