By: Kimberly Ramkhalawan
July 22, 2022
Eastern Caribbean states are saying more must be done to remedy the transport woes they have coming to and from their neighbouring islands.
The topic took centerstage even as the Council for Tourism Ministers at the OECS gathered for their first in-person meeting in Dominica this year.
Much was dissected following the last two years and the impact the pandemic has had on the region. Incoming chair, Dominica’s Tourism Minister, Denise Charles shared just how critical regional air transport was to boosting the tourism industry among Eastern Caribbean states. She says “in recent times it has become cheaper to travel to Miami than to a neighbouring island. Regional transportation is a critical matter so it is a top priority on the agenda and must lobby to make it easier to visit eachother to have training programs, cultural exchanges, and to facilitate trade”.
And with the return and use of creative festivals outside of Carnival for the drawing of tourists including rum, food and tea festivals otherwise known as rabbit festivals, Charles noted that it was festivals like this, that often boosted intra-regional travel as she described Caribbean people as having been known for partaking in fetes and parties looking for the next big event.
She underscored the need to get back to the days of being able to hop on daily flights connecting the islands with reasonable fares and schedules and get to destinations within an hour. In this same breath, she thanked the airlines that stepped up to work with the OECS during difficult times, Inter-caribbean airways following the loss of LIAT and Caribbean Airlines for stepping up to the plate to ensure flights in and out of Trinidad and Tobago as well as Barbados were provided.
The incoming chair described regional tourism as acting as a buffer to the industry against external shocks while highlighting some interesting statistics, which showed that some 31.5 million visitors came to the Caribbean in 2019, with 60 percent from North America, 14 percent from Europe, four percent from the UK and 6.3 percent from Caribbean nationals moving within the region.
In her opening remarks, Charles shared that the region was now at a critical juncture in its tourism sector, marking the ‘perfect opportunity to strategize, regroup and rebound even greater both collectively and as individual states’.
She highlighted it was now time to take the opportunity to strengthen bilateral and regional ties for tourism, and called for the region to be able to share a diversified marketing campaign, attract more visitors to come to the region all while providing unique products and authentic experiences to create jobs for resilient livelihoods for its people.
Charles described the Council of Tourism Ministers as the perfect platform for bringing together policy makers who can set the foundation for carving out the future tourism sector which is vibrant and sustainable. One area she also intends to tackle is hospitality training, and while she is aware of the work that has been done at the regional level, she hopes to bring this back to the table for review and consideration. She added that ‘even as investments are made into infrastructure and improved processes, the skillsets of its people need to be enhanced and fully utilized’.
Another area she is putting forward is the need to support community tourism initiatives. In Dominica, she says key to building the tourism sector is building resilient communities and provides guests with an organic and authentic Dominican experience. Added to that she says is the use of flora and fauna to enhance the beauty of its landspaces including the planting of trees that would aid in protecting its coastlines, as well special species plants that assist in reducing its carbon footprint as an island and fruit trees that contribute to its food security.
Meanwhile, Director General of the OECS, Dr. Didacus Jules, while not present at the meeting physically welcomed the incoming chair, and thanked outgoing Antigua and Barbuda Minister, Charles Fernandes for this tenure. He noted some of the progress his agency has made in the area of tourism, including its six-year strategic plan which identifies five critical and interrelated areas for priority. These include acceleration of regional integration.
In the context of tourism, this means creating an enabling environment of tourism development across the footprint of the OECS. Reinventing the economy in the context of tourism transforming tourism undertaking tourism enhancement initiatives, Valuing the environment a matter of perennial debate and of important to us because of the intrinsic link between tourism and the environment, and building resilience and advancing equity and inclusion.
Another update Dr. Jules shared included the OECS’ commitments through the Glasgow declaration on climate change MOU with UNWTO for enhanced cooperation to support the view of the development of inclusive more sustainable resilient tourism industry in the region and specific activities include measuring the impact of tourism and support for tourism MSMEs.
Dr. Jules added that the OECS Micro and medium enterprise policy framework which seeks to consolidate the functioning and viability of the MSME sector as a substantial contributor to economic development in our region, focused on MSMEs at the core of the tourism supply chain. They are the tourism service providers that enhance tourism experiences and they make a significant contribution in delivering more authentic tourism products.
From the inception of the pandemic, the OECS worked with regional agencies, such as CARPHA, CHTA AND CTO to restore travelers confidence in the eastern Caribbean. He added that the OECS formulized its collaboration with CARPHA in support of the tourism and health programme through the signing of a letter of agreement.
Bearing in mind how fragile the Caribbean states are, outgoing chairman for tourism Charles Max Fernandes, whose tenure was riddled with having to cope with the onslaught of the pandemic and its devastating impact had on eastern Caribbean states said projections showed a 77 percent back to normalcy.
Fernandes said he however saw benefits in the council coming together via virtual meetings as well as reassurance they would have received from health agencies such as CARPHA to share ideas and experiences in the recovery process.
Despite his country being most dependent on a tourism market for its economy, he remarked that Antigua and Barbuda was still able to achieve its ten year vision for its tourism industry.
The Council of Ministers Meeting, while a one-day event, provides the opportunity for Ministers to dialogue on significant policy and programme matters facing tourism across OECS Member States and to collaborate in crafting common solutions to the issues that the sector faces.