Grenada’s Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell Monday called for more inclusion of stakeholders within the region’s tourism industry, warning that failure to do so could seriously hamper the development of the industry.
Addressing the opening of the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s (CTO) Caribbean Sustainable Tourism Conference (STC 2024), hosted by the CTO in partnership with the Grenada Tourism Authority (GTA), Mitchell told delegates that any discussion on sustainable tourism needs to take into consideration the partnerships with the various stakeholders.
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“We cannot sustain ourselves,” said Mitchell, informing the conference that while he had prepared a speech for the event, he would not be delivering it.
“So it means that when we have our conversations, you probably have to be a little more inclusive and invite the farmers, the fishermen etc, the supply chain people to help sustain this tourism industry. which is our crown jewel in the Caribbean.”
Mitchell warned that failure to do so would result in a couple of things including “these people are not going to defend the tourism sector and it also makes it easier for the politician not to defend, the tourism sector”.
He told the conference having worked for a number of hotels in the past, he shared a view of the sector “that was pampered, treated quite well and to a large extent sort of treated our people by rewarding them with low paying unskilled jobs”.
“And there is some element of that, and so in Grenada’s case. Once upon a time, there was a very deliberate public education campaign that tourism was everybody’s business and the question is why did we have to do that?
“People did not believe that tourism is everybody’s business. They did not believe that tourism was good for them and good for the country. I think we have come a long way from that and that the average Grenadian, the average Caribbean person accepts, understands the importance of tourism.”
Mitchell said however that the tourism industry itself “needs to do a better job of making sure that it integrates, connects with, supports, encourages other sectors of society that need to grow as quickly as tourism has grown to ensure that tourism remains sustainable.”
He said in Grenada for example, the government is under “severe pressure” to relax the rules as well as the concessions for the duties we pay for getting the food needed by the hotels into the island.
“Many of our hoteliers will tell you it is difficult to get the type of food in quantities and quality that they need to sustain and to remain competitive. But if the only solution is to import all of the food, I am guaranteeing you that tourism will not be sustained and I think we know that and therefore we owe it to ourselves, our farmers, our fishermen, our agro-processors…to ensure help them to be part of the solution that we need to make our food more sustainable, make our food healthier…”
“So if we are talking partnerships let us go beyond having a room where we are talking to ourselves and that we speak to the persons who could assist us with that partnership,” he said, making reference to the fact that there is also need for unity in dealing with other issues in the sector, including the provision of adequate supply of water and dealing with the problems associated with mosquitoes.
He said in the Caribbean, most of the water now comes from desalination plants “but the reality is…we have not planned for the growth in tourism by ensuring that we invest in water conservation and the smart use of water, in recycling the use of water etc etc etc”.
Centered around the theme of the 5 Ps – People, Planet, Prosperity, Purpose and Partnership, the CTO said that STC 2024 aims to address pressing issues facing the Caribbean tourism industry and foster collaboration among stakeholders to promote sustainable development.
“The conference is poised to deliver impactful discussions and initiatives that will drive positive change within the region’s tourism sector.”
In his address to the opening ceremony, the executive chairman of Sandals Resorts International, Adam Stewart, acknowledged that the main problem facing the tourism industry in the region is understanding visitors who represent a different generation than in the past.
“There are multitudes of generations at any given time in any segment of tourism…and the magic is to figure out how to get them to come here continuously and on an ongoing basis and to widen that net of inclusivity,” said Stewart, who is also the ATL Group and Sandals Foundation president.
“Customers don’t owe us anything…they do not have the loyalty of the former explorers, they have the internet to guide them without ever leaving their rooms,” Stewart said, noting that the most powerful of the theme of the conference is that of partnership.
“The most powerful part of the five Ps is partnership, the public sector has a role, the private sector has a role to the degree to which those two things come together to determines your gains and your future,” he told the opening ceremony, adding that there has been more changes and advancements in tourism globally in the last decade than there have been in the last 50 years.
“Our job through my eyes in the short time I get to talk is unity, it’s for all of us to come together, it’s to stand together, to take head on the challenges that we face and to find a way to include everybody,” he said, recalling the problems faced by the industry due to the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
“We as business leaders, we as policymakers in government have to dig deeper, we have to stop being reliable or stop saying this is government business or the private sector business. The sooner we come together with the collective to say that this is our own, that is Caribbean business, is the sooner we will get advancement,” Stewart said.
Focusing on the need for training for workers in the tourism industry, he said there are minimum standards that customers will not accept.
“So, we have to prepare, even if it is mother nature, for the arrival of the visitor that has the choice to go anywhere in the world but choose to come here in the region,” he said.
Dozens of speakers are scheduled to address the conference. CMC
