May forum on sustainable tourism holds particular significance for Guyana
Buoyed by the recent pronouncement by the World Tourism Organization (WTO) that international tourism could be on track for a rebound following “an exceptionally challenging 2009” Caribbean officials have finally broken their silence on the industry and are ‘talking up’ the regional tourism product. Since the last quarter of 2009 regional entities like the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) have appeared increasingly optimistic about the recovery prospects for the industry.
In his New Year message to the tourism sector across the Caribbean, CTO Chairman, Antigua’s Minister of Civil Aviation and Tourism John Maginley steered clear of even a single reference to the difficulties which the industry faced last year, focusing instead on “the positive signs” manifested in “investments our airline and cruise partners are making in the Caribbean.” Maginley noted that “new air service is continually being introduced for selected markets and support for traditional routes is being maintained. For all its difficulties Maginley maintains that the region’s hotel and villa sector continues to be the mainstay of the tourist industry and noted that that the winter held promising portents for occupancy levels of properties.
The sense of optimism that underpinned Maginley’s New Year Message is reflected in the more recent WTO assessment of the state of the global tourism industry. The most recent edition of the WTO’s World Tourism Barometer indicates that while international tourist arrivals fell by an estimated 4 per cent to 880 million last year, arrivals are now forecast to grow between 3 and 4 per cent this year.
Signs of a gradual recovery in global tourist arrivals had already begun to materialize during the last quarter of 2009 with arrivals increasing by 2 per cent following declines of 10 per cent, 7 per cent and 2 per cent during the first three quarters of last year.
While global signs of recovery have led to the sounding of a distinctly more optimistic note in the region, indications are that tough challenges still lie ahead for Caribbean tourism. According to the WTO the modest recovery in global tourist arrivals during the last quarter of 2009 was led by Asia and the Pacific and the Middle East, a pronouncement that still leaves the region with much to do to turn around a tough 2009.
Maginley is soberly optimistic. While noting what he describes as “the innovative strides being taken by the attractions, restaurants and visitor amenities” and the efforts aimed at “enhancing quality standards” he cautions that 2010 “will not be without challenge.” Not least among the challenges are concerns over potential tourists cutting back on spending, a circumstance that may well apply particularly to visitors from the United Kingdom following the imposition of an increased passenger airport tax by the authorities in Great Britain. In the wake of the introduction of the first phase of the increase last November Caribbean governments and tourist sectors fought a spirited but vain battle to have the tax removed. Indeed, fears are mounting that the imposition of the second phase of the tax in November 2010 could cripple the region’s tourist industry by sending the cost of Caribbean holidays up for routine travelers from the UK to the region.
Strategies to ensure that the Caribbean tourism sector benefit from the trend towards improvement in the sector globally are likely to unfold at the 11th Annual Conference on Sustainable Tourism in the Caribbean scheduled for May 9-12 in Barbados. The CTO in a January 8th statement has indicated that the forum which returns after one year of absence due to the global economic crisis “will examine critical issues relating to sustainability and will explore creative solutions to many of the challenges facing CTO member countries including climate change.” CTO Secretary General Hugh Riley is quoted in the statement as saying that “STC will continue with the focus on how member countries can design and incorporate sustainable tourism policies and practices into their regional and international initiatives while its Sustainable Tourism Product Specialist Gail Henry declares that the Caribbean has an opportunity to lead advances in sustainable tourism while also creating valuable employment opportunities.”
The outcomes of the May forum, particularly the discourses on the challenges which climate change could pose for regional tourism are bound to be of particular interest to Guyana where official and public discourse on climate change and sustainable development is probably more commonplace than anywhere else in the region. Guyana’s tourism sector, like those in other parts of the Caribbean took a beating last year that manifested itself in the sale of hotels and a drastic decline in visitor arrivals at most of the country’s interior eco-resorts. Nonetheless, when Stabroek Business spoke with President of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG), Paul Stephenson some months ago he was, even in the midst of the recession that was confronting the sector, upbeat about the resilience of the local tourism industry and its capacity to ‘come through’ the crisis.
Regional tourism officials appear decidedly inclined to keep both feet on the ground despite their optimistic soundings. Maginley himself appears to recognize that the impact of the global economic and financial crisis is likely to bring a considerable measure of change to international tourist trends not least of which will be a more robust demand for value for money. ‘The tourists now have so many choices and options available to them both in terms of hotels and destinations. We cannot continue the way we have been going. We have to make the Caribbean even more exciting and even better value. The recession has been an incredible challenge for all destinations around the world but this means the Caribbean will have to remain competitive,” Maginley says.
Jamaican Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart owner of the Sandals resort chain with properties in Jamaica, St. Lucia, Antigua and The Bahamas endorses Maginley’s view. He says that the regional tourism sector must do its homework if it is to secure that value-added that will keep the tourists coming, adding that his own outfit has been doing its own homework and can therefore be optimistic about the year ahead despite the challenges.
CTO’s pursuit of boosting tourist arrivals in the region this year has led it in the direction of what experts call “a previously untapped resource” – the Caribbean diaspora. Expatriate Caribbean people are recognized, courted and counted among tourists who visit the region each year and the diaspora is now being more fully embraced in the region’s marketing strategy.