Cashing in on the
tourist dollar

The boom that is being experienced in the travel and tourism sectors has engaged the attention of governments and policy makers in almost every country.

This sector provides direct and indirect employment for 122 million persons world-wide, 10.7% of the global workforce.

In the Caribbean, the strength of the tourism sector is evident by the US$11.7 billion receipts collected in 1994 and by the 500,000 jobs created.

Tourism, unlike many other traditional primary products, is exported without leaving the country and as such has an important local input.

How can the Caribbean take better advantage of this sector?

This question can be better answered when one understands what tourism is about. Tourism is about creating unique experiences for visitors.

This experience begins as soon as the information seekers take the decision to visit the region. The point being that the destination is chosen before accommodation or any other ancillary services.

First Contact

In most instances, visitors first encounter the Caribbean through travel agents in their home country or through tour operators.

Are these intermediaries properly trained to adequately promote the uniqueness of our product? Are they equipped with the right supporting materials (brochures, posters)? Has attention been paid to the quality and presentation of promotional materials?

We have all had the experience of being turned off a product because the handlers of that product showed themselves to be unpleasant, uncouth or because the product was of an inferior quality.

Also, the need for realistic overseas promotion budgets cannot be overly emphasized. In list of the top 33 countries ranked according to promotion budgets, Mexico ranks second while Jamaica and United States rank 23rd and 33rd respectively.

The astonishing growth taking place in the Mexican market is thus self evident and Jamaica's popularity and brand image was achieved not by wishful thinking but by investing.

On the other hand, the fact that the United States is slowly losing market share to other destinations can also be easily explained by this.

The Internet

The attempts by the various countries to promote themselves on the Internet must also be commended. Surfers on the Net are now greeted with vibrant, multi- faceted and exciting information package about the various countries, including their culture and festivities. They can even get the opportunity to visit a beach or hotel room even before they set foot on any of the islands.

The experience of the tourist continues in the check-in line and on board the aircraft that brings that visitor here.

Again, there is a need to emphasize to airline personnel that to the tourist, it is not simply a journey, but the beginning of an adventure.

Therefore, the service providers need to consider themselves as part of the total destination.

They need to know what is available for the businessman and the diver or eco-tourist, as well as the wedding and honeymoon market and represent all that is positive about Caribbean hospitality.

Hospitality, however, does not end when the aircraft touches down. On the contrary, the experience has just begun.

Long Lines

A visitor needs to feel welcomed. To be greeted by long lines at immigration & customs and hostile faces is not encouraging.

The services of immigration and customs, therefore, have to be sensitised to the benefits of tourism and work must to be done to improve the process.

Carrying capacity also needs to be examined since the peak periods of Christmas and other local festivals can sometimes create chaos at airports. Proper planning is needed to ensure the proper flow of traffic.

Sustainable Tourism

In Trinidad, for example, there is plethora of activities, from the Brian Lara Promenade, the Strip of St. James to the picturesque north and east coasts and scenic and serene Tobago.

However, it is important that we as a people create a sustainable tourism. One where the people are sensitive to the environment.

Tourism is based on the environment and so without a healthy environment there can be no tourism. The destruction of the country's forest due to indiscriminate logging and slash and burn farming; the demise of swamps from uncontrolled farming and the eradication of coral reefs due to senseless harvesting of coral and the destructive use of chemicals, will eventually rob this destination of important marketing advantages.

Additionally, waste disposal and the homeless have to be dealt with as matters of urgency. The efforts of the various environmental protection agencies at sensitising the population on the importance of the environment is extremely important.

Accommodation

The bed stock at many destinations needs to upgraded and expanded if they hope to actively compete with the rest of the world. In this respect, the local bed and breakfast sector can play a crucial role in creating additional supply. This sector is also well placed to offer a more customised and visitor-friendly service.

However, care must be taken to properly register, classify and regulate accommodation.

It is clear that this policy can benefit not only the big players in tourism but also the small man. The latter must be made to realise that the art of liming, traditional folklore, indigenous culture and lifestyles can all be successfully marketed.

Education

More time must be spent developing ways of selling these intangibles which are so much a part of our destination, instead of trying to rip off the visitor. Why not transform the bus or taxi ride from the airport into a cultural experience?

Tourism can be used as a vehicle to create employment and this can indeed help to alleviate some of the social problems of crime and unemployment so prominent around the region. However tourism development must be part of each government's plan and more importantly, it has to be a plan that is implemented.

It is necessary to educate the man-in-the-street if a unique destination is to be created. Again Mexico, with 58 percent of its hospitality workers formally trained, compared with the Caribbean's 5 percent, has shown that it recognises the importance of developing the local human resource support for the tourism sector.

Finally, no plan, even the most brilliant, will succeed without a tangible commitment (from government, private sector, the people of the host country and all other interested parties), to working together to promote the destination as a whole. We all have a part to play in making tourism an engine for growth and development throughout the region.

Caribbean Futures Ltd is a Travel & Tourism consultancy firm, specializing in strategic planning, marketing and product development programs for the tourism industry. Tel# (809) 625- 4443 Fax# (809) 625-4420.