"Action now!" says St. Lucia's tourism minister
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Contact: Bevan Springer
Monday, June 9, 2008 – St Lucia's Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Allen Chastanet speaks at the 12th edition of the Caribbean Media Exchange on Sustainable Tourism (CMEx), which was held at the Holiday Inn, Isla Verde, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The tourism debate must stop. We need action now.
Those were the words of St Lucia's Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Allen Chastanet during the 12th edition of the Caribbean Media Exchange on Sustainable Tourism (CMEx), which was held at the Holiday Inn, Isla Verde, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Over 100 participants, including a local delegation, took part in the conference that ran from May 15-19.
"I honestly believe that in the next two years things are going to take place in this world and we are going to long for the days that we have let go by," said Chastanet.
"I don't really think we understand what opportunity is. Opportunity has two senses, the opportunity we have and guess what, the opportunity we lost and we have allowed a lot of time to go by. We have lost a lot of opportunity. We have wasted a tremendous amount of energy and effort to get people into a perspective to help themselves. The Trinidad and Tobago delegation at the 12th edition of the Caribbean Media Exchange on Sustainable Tourism (CMEx).
"I'm really here to appeal to you that this debate must stop. That we need to step out of the box and take a different perspective. The industry now is demanding the best. It is demanding that we be creative."
Referring to travel review sites as www.Tripadvisor.com, he said: "People cannot get away today with the same mistakes over and over again. And I believe at some point there will be a Tripadvisor that will talk about the destinations. We've been very lucky so far they've stuck to the hotel part of it."
Chastanet went on to describe the Caribbean's tourism industry as "ill".
"I think that time is running out on this region and all the signs are there," he added.
"This region continues to loose market share. Last year, world tourism grew by seven per cent, this region grew by two per cent. We've seen market share dwindle from 4.5 per cent to 2.5 per cent and the sad part is that we have had unprecedented growth in tourism during that period of almost 4.5 per cent per year.
"If you want to be very critical of ourselves, in the last 10 years 50 per cent of the growth in this region came from two countries, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. The rest of us have languished in mediocrity."
He said the region must step up to the plate because there are other countries "who know what tourism is".
Among the ill effects facing the Caribbean's tourism industry is the rising fuel costs, which continue to threaten the travel industry.
Only last week, American Airlines announced it was going to start charging US$15 for the first checked bag, cut domestic flights and lay off workers as it grapples with record-high fuel prices.
Chastanet told the Business Express that the decision by American carriers could have a serious impact on visitor arrivals to the region.
"We expect the oil price to rise between US$150- $175 within the next three months," he said.
"If we think we have a problems now, wait until that happens. Given our dependence on airlift and the United States visitors, we must work very quickly and collectively to see how best we can mitigate this problem."
He said the fact that the US is going into an election only serves to make the situation worse.
"It is always in an election year that business drops in the fourth quarter anywhere between 20 to 30 per cent," he added.
The US economic slowdown combined with the recent cut in airline capacity and the upcoming election could be critical to the region's tourist arrivals.
"There could be a dramatic drop in tourist arrivals to the region in the third and fourth quarters of this year, and even the first quarter of next year," Chastanet said.
"So that's three quarters in a row in which you're going to see a tremendous decline in numbers."
He disclosed that Tourism and Civil Aviation ministers of the Caribbean are scheduled to meet tomorrow in an emergency session to discuss these issues. Further discussions will again take place in Washington in June, while the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Heads will discuss tourism issues during their meeting in July. The issue again will be discussed during the Tourism Summit of the Americas scheduled to take place at the International Trade Center at the Ronald Reagan Building in downtown Washington, DC from June 21-24, 2008. Also, during the Caricom Heads of Government meeting in July, where one day will be solely focused on Tourism.
Chastanet applauded the Prince and the Kingdom of Dubai for what he described as a great tourism model.
"Would I want to replicate a Dubai in the Caribbean? No, but here is what I would like to replicate. That they have gone with the attitude of, what do we have to do to make this thing work. That's the premise they started off with. They have now embraced tourism and are not sitting here having this continuous debate."
Another example he used was Mexico, which was a Third World country before embracing tourism.
"Tourism has become one of the pillars of economic miracle in Mexico," he explained.
"It has now become the third largest contributor to foreign exchange. It has become one of the most significant contributors to employment and more importantly it has helped spur their industry.
"As a result of it two years ago the World Bank had invited Mexico to buy more shares in the World Bank as recognition of its graduation to becoming a developed country and that was on the back of tourism." |
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