CARIBBEAN TOURISM: ADAPTING TO CHANGE IN 2018
PRESIDENT OF The Caribbean Hotel and Tourist Association (CTO) Patricia AffonsoDass says that there is a real sense of optimism in relation to tourism opportunities in the region.
This,the new CHTA president states, can only happen if all the players in the industry, the Government, and the private sector have learnt from the past, stay clearly focused on the future, and appreciate the critical importance of reinventing and improving their businesses, their processes, and their human resources.
“We must be nimble, adaptable, and innovative in this era of constant change,” she charged.
The past year, Affonso-Dass argued, was a reminder of how resilient the people and the industry and a number of the region’s destinations and hotels area are, having bounced back from unparalleled destruction in 2017, rebuilding smarter, better, and sometimes, bigger.
She noted that over 5,000 new hotels rooms came online regionally in 2018, with over 25,000 more in the construction and planning stages even while existing hotels continued to invest in refurbishments and introducing new services and amenities.
“We also witnessed an unprecedented surge in new airlift into the region, presenting more opportunities to entice travellers to our shores. Investor and government confidence in Caribbean tourism’s future was further buoyed as hundreds of millions of dollars were spent on upgraded and expanded airport facilities,” she proudly stated.
Affonso-Dass however, questioned how the region would continually adapt in an era of accelerated change when technology, competition, consumer expectations, economic and political uncertainty, and climate change challenge it.
According to her, the abundance of opportunities lies within the people in the region.
IMPACTING TOURISM
“Through our companies, Destination Management Organisation, National Hotel and Tourism Associations, and regional stakeholder groups like CHTA and the CTO, owners, operators, government partners, and individuals have an even greater capacity to positively and collectively impact tourism’s future and our bottom lines.”
She said it was amazing what could be achieved through a commitment to cooperation, collaboration, open communication, and mutual respect. “We have all of the necessary elements in our communities, businesses, governments, and destinations to excel and to lead as the world’s most desirable tourism region.”
Affonso-Dass is urging stakeholders to commit to recognising and developing talent wherever it is seen; to critically assessing the processes in both the public and private sectors to make sure that they facilitate more than restrict; to using all means possible to inform and educate the region’s people about the value and importance of tourism; and most importantly, to doing whatever can be done to engender a greater sense of pride and care in people, the environment, and the region as a whole.