Edmund Bartlett, Minister of Tourism, Jamaica, Adam Stewart, CEO Sandals and Kenneth Bryan, Minister of Tourism, Cayman Islands.
There is a call for the people of the region to be included in the growth and sustainability of the Caribbean tourism industry as well as better wages for those who work in the industry.
Speaking on a public/private partnership sector panel at the Caribbean Travel Forum in Puerto Rico, some Ministers of Tourism and representatives from the private sector agreed that the industry has to be more inclusive of Caribbean people.
Dr Ernest Hilaire, Minister of Tourism for Saint Lucia, said the industry has to become more sustainable, and to do that, it must be more inclusive of the people of the region.
“It has to put the people of the region at the fore of the industry,” he said, stating that the people must participate and own the industry.
He said his first act as Tourism Minister was to implement a national public awareness campaign to get citizens aware of the tourism industry and their role in it. He said creating community tourism products such as Saint Lucia’s Kabawe Krawl, which takes visitors to various bars on the island or adventure programs can help people see that the industry is about them.
Edmund Bartlett, Minister of Tourism for Jamaica added that the workers of the industry must be part of the region’s tourism recovery and called for a reimagining of the labour market.
“Tourism workers are seen among the lowest paid in all of our industry, the working conditions are felt to be similarly so. I think we have a new opportunity in this recovery to rebalance those negative notions and to create an industry now that is going to be attractive to our workers and offer them an opportunity for growth and development,” he said.
Edmund Bartlett, Minister of Tourism, Jamaica
Kenneth Bryan, Minister of Tourism for the Cayman Islands, agreed that a new pay scale has to be implemented for workers in the sector and suggested that Governments strategise to be more dynamic with their tax structure and move money around so it does not become too burdensome on the hotels.
Representing the private sector, Adam Stewart, CEO of Sandals Resorts, warned that the honeymoon phase of the recovery is over and the competitive boots are back on.
He stressed that inclusivity has to be the new frontier.
“I say that not because it is a popular thing but because it is indeed what the customers are looking for,” he said calling for more boutiques and villas.
“We need to be pushing our customers into the streets of the more deeply but to do so we have to prepare and put more control environments where customers feel safe,” he said.
Stewart lamented that after 60 years of tourism, the Caribbean does not have a top-brass learning institute for training and development for the industry.
He said after his father, Gordon Butch Stewart died, they announced they would build the Gordon Butch Stewart Institute for Hospitality Management with a physical campus in Montego Bay and an Open Campus in the Caribbean to attract the next generation of hospitality leaders.
Ernest Hilaire, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Saint Lucia
He pointed out that opportunities abound in the industry beyond waiting tables and includes manufacturing, construction, development, IT, architecture, engineering, and so on.
He said there has to be a framework around learning, development, advancement, and exposure for the workforce.
“To see another way, to expand the mind, show them what is possible and takes them out of being parochial and if you are parochial, you cannot be world-class, you cannot stand on the world stage,” he said, calling for incentives for the private sector for training and development.
Brad Dean, CEO of Discover Puerto Rico, agreed that said their new Live Boricua campaign is based upon inclusivity. It shows more faces than places, he said, as well as faces one would not normally expect to see in a Puerto Rico tourism campaign.
“Just that change was starting to attract different consumers,” he said, noting that they were four months into the campaign when Hurricane Fiona struck.
Brad Dean, CEO, Discover Puerto Rico
Dean called for regional leaders to show more respect for the tourism industry stating that it is the first phase of economic development.
“There is no industry in the Caribbean, United States or beyond…that on any given day employs more people, serves more people and speaks to more people than our industry. So as a tool for public progress whether it is sustainability, whether it is inclusivity, and diversity whether it is infrastructure or public policy, this is an industry that can be used to make things happen. I would be thrilled to see more Caribbean governments see the true and full benefits of travel and tourism,” he said.
The Caribbean Travel Forum was a part of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association’s Travel Marketplace which was held in Puerto Rico.