The global economic downturn which started in 2007, and continues to the present time, brings into focus the need for Anguilla to revisit its decision for upscale tourism with a view to diversifying the economy. While one might think that diversifying the economy means that we have to do radically different things from what we are doing now, we can easily overlook the obvious. Tourism has been the mainstay of Anguilla’s economy for well over 30 years and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. However, despite the perception that we are a “high end exclusive” destination, it is not translating into a sustainable economy which ensures a good quality of life and a good standard of living for our people. Unfortunately, the average annual occupancy in hotels/resorts is now between 35 – 40%. This basically means that between 60 – 65% of the hotel/resort rooms are unoccupied year round.
The DOVE Party believes that the time has come for us in Anguilla to have genuine “timeshare” properties introduced on the island. “Timeshare” will allow resort properties to sell guest accommodation by the week for the life of the property. In other words, a person can buy a one week ownership of a suite/condominium in a resort and pay, for example, U.S. $15,000.00. That person can then use that suite/condominium the same time each year as if it is their own suite/condominium. In addition to the onetime payment of the U.S. $15,000.00 by the buyer, an annual fee of, for example, U.S. $800.00 is paid. This annual fee is used to pay insurance, property tax, cleaning, utilities, fitting, furnishing and all other expenses relating to the upkeep of that suite/condominium and the maintenance of common areas such grounds, lobby, restaurants, gyms etc.
The DOVE Party believes that this “timeshare” opportunity should be restricted to Anguillian-owned development on its introduction at least. The second phase could allow for foreign participation with Anguillians owning majority interest. A final phase can allow for foreign majority ownership with Anguillians being minority owners.
The DOVE Party is convinced that “timeshare” will result in much higher occupancy overall provided that most of the “timeshare weeks” are sold. With most of the “timeshare weeks” sold, there would be a longer season of employment for staff working at these properties. This would also mean that the properties will have high occupancy during good and bad economic times thus ensuring a certain amount of sustained commercial activity on the island.
The DOVE party hastens to say that the “timeshare” industry has some unique complexities but, like any other business, we will have to play by the international standards and traditions. There are issues of people exchanging weeks with other “timeshare” owners around the world. There are issues with properties falling into a serious state of disrepair. There are issues with respect to ensuring that Government collects a fair amount of taxes, etc etc. We have to be mindful of all these issues as we embark on this opportunity.
There might be an immediate opportunity for Anguillian-owned resorts to sell “some if not all” of their property as “timeshare”. They can continue to sell unsold “timeshare weeks” as regular resort accommodation as they do today. This will provide much needed liquidity that can prevent some of these properties from failing. Because of the urgency, the DOVE Party is calling on the AUM Government to start to ensure the enactment of the relevant legislation that will enable this opportunity as soon as possible. This would help our local resort owners and create more sustainable employment for workers on the island.
The “timeshare” sector has helped to sustain the economy of many tourist destinations like St. Maarten, Cayman Islands, Orlando (Florida) and the Dominican Republic, during the period of global economic contraction. Some “timeshare” properties have maintained occupancy in excess of 85%. To this end, it is incumbent on us in Anguilla to commit to diversification within the tourism sector, as well as outside of the tourism sector, in order to have some measure of sustainability to our current fragile economy. We urge that all necessary steps needed for implementation be taken as a matter of urgency.
– Contributed
