Tourism officials across the Caribbean need to collaborate and develop a clearly defined strategic plan for the sector if the sector is to be sustainable. That's the view of Trinidad-born Dr Keith Nurse, director of the Shridath Ramphal Centre for International Trade Law, Policy and Services, at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Barbados. Nurse told the Business Guardian that so far, innovative approaches toward this facet of the regional economy was seriously lacking and would remain so until and unless those charged with the responsibility of fine-tuning the product start thinking outside the box.
Nurse said there was little correlation between culture and tourism products which, in his view, would be ideal to boast the attractiveness of the islands and increase revenue for the respective territories, citing that the tourism economy and the way in which it is synergised, was far wider than normally and stereotypically made out to be. He said there exists a cycle of misconceptions that were being embraced as fact, in relation to the needs of foreigners choosing to visit the islands in the Caribbean as their destinations of choice. According to Nurse, the situation was worsened by the fact that those who have been assigned the task to cater to visitors do not know who they are providing for. "There is a misconception that tourists come only in one colour, or they come from one set of locations, but this is not true, as our findings have shown. In a global economic recession where our traditional markets are in decline, where austerity measures that are being employed are going to impact upon the travel prospects from many of our traditional clients, it's important that we search for new niches, (and) new target markets."
T&T's tourism model
Heritage tourism and cultural tourism were valuable assets in the armoury of any country and T&T was testimony of that. In just two weeks, said Nurse, this country's national festival generated between 12-15 per cent of tourists arrivals. The figures were similar in relation to expenditure of visitors during their stay.
"Heritage and cultural tourism generate more than just earnings at the gate. They can generate significant economic flows at the macroeconomic level. There are a lot of spillover effects, multiplier effects, (and) catalytic effects." Nurse added: "The key benefit of something like T&T Carnival was the way in which it generated income in other sectors. Try placing an ad in the newspapers around Carnival time, the rates have done up by 50 per cent. Try renting a car, the rates have gone up by 50, if not 100 per cent. You have to book (a hotel) from the Carnival before. So the macroeconomic impact of having a festival or having an event or generating a heritage tourism experience, can be quite significant."
Diasporic tourists, big spenders
Patterns throughout the region, including T&T, indicate that diasporic tourists were bigger spenders than foreigners, so they contribute greatly to an economy. "Diasporic tourists actually spend more than your regular or real tourists. They spend more on a continuous and sustained basis because they are supporting homes, in two locations, in some instances. They are funding education of their families in several instances. They have investments in both locations and they travel quite regularly, particularly for short breaks. So they come for a festival. They would come for Carnival. They would come for Christmas." Having visited almost every tourism agency in the region, Nurse said he was alarmed by the fact that people sank back into their chairs and their eyes started to glaze over whenever he mentioned disaporic tourism. He said the reaction was no different at major airlines in the region, even though this category of tourists accounts for between 60 to 70 per cent of their paying passengers.
Bad investments aplenty:
Ninety-five per cent of Caribbean literature focuses specifically on the built heritage aspect of tourism, particularly sites and attractions. The belief that if you build it, people will come is erroneous, Nurse said.
"Far too often, what we find is that an investment track is pursued without a clear understanding of who the target markets are and how we are actually going to get them to come to our spaces. We are suggesting that the marketing strategy is what is critical in developing any tourism strategy."
Agro-tourism is real
When it came to the agricultural benefits of tourism, Nurse and his team uncovered more myths: "If we make good Caribbean food, people will eat it." He said that was the consensus at an agro-tourism conference in Barbados last month. Nurse disagrees. While patronising a restaurant in Barbados with a friend, he learnt that the diner doesn't carry coconut water; a beverage is easily available in T&T. He was perplexed by this, saying the restaurant was located on the seaside and had acres of coconuts around it. Even more curious was the fact that a truck had parked outside with a lot of this fruit. Nurse and his friend went across to the trucker, asked for a coconut, had it cut and took it back to the restaurant, where they were the envy of diners. "There has been rejuvenation in cocoa all around the Caribbean. In St Lucia, there is a cocoa hotel and restaurant. What's on the menu? Only chocolate!" he said.
Suriname, the ideal prototype
Suriname is the best example of a South American country that has its pulse on the diasporic tourism market. From its laser point strategies for medical tourism to specialty telecom provisions, the Surinamese blueprint was one from which Nurse believed the rest of the region could learn. "In Suriname, some investors are setting up a 100-room hotel, a 'Care Hotel' it's called, targeted at diasporic tourist. Suriname is interesting because they have had to depend on their diaspora for the growth of their economy. One of their companies, Telesur, has innovated by offering a dual sim card, where people can call in two directions as a local call. Their principle target is the diaspora and diasporic tourist. Within the space of a year-and-a-half, over $40,000 people use their dual sim card and this is a major share of their earnings."
Technology and tourism
Technology has begun to reshape the next frontier for the tourism economy, Nurse said. Admitting that his children have taken over his iPad, the UWI official said he came across an application called iTrav.
"I wasn't sure what it was and I clicked on it and it was about the Dominican Republic. It tells you everything you need to know about cultural tourism and heritage tourism in the Dominican Republic."
Nurse believed it would be prudent for tourism facilitators in others territories to get a head start on this burgeoning market to present a new world view for potential visitors to their respective destinations.
