First let me issue a disclaimer and say at this time that anything I say here this morning should not be held against the Anguilla Hotel and Tourism Association. Also if you are offended by straight talk, then take a walk on the beach at this time and tune in to Radio Anguilla tomorrow morning for the watered down version of this speech.
The Theme for Tourism week this year is “Sustainable Practices of Significant Growth. I think this theme comes at the right time as I see Anguilla’s Tourism at a crossroad. During this week all persons on Anguilla in and out of the Tourism Industry need to reflect on Tourism, The importance of Tourism to our island and how we can protect tourism in Anguilla for generations to come. Actually Tourism should be something we think about every day.
Sustainable tourism has been defined by the World Tourism Organization as “satisfying current tourist and host community needs, while protecting and improving future opportunities. It is seen as a guide in managing all resources, in such a way that economic, social, and aesthetic needs may be met, while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity, and life support systems.” Making a reality of sustainable tourism entails adopting “best practices,” namely, corrective or improved measures implemented in every area of tourist business management and operation. These actions are aimed at ensuring that the least possible impact is caused, that tourist product quality and image are improved, that business development becomes more efficient, and therefore, social and economic development does as well.
Our leaders of the late 1970’s envisioned an island where Tourism would be our major economic driver based on a Tourism model of “Low Volume – High Yield”. Thirty Five years later some may argue that this model of Tourism no longer works. Is this argument correct or have we done some things wrong? Have we since the 1970’s put in place corrective or improved measures or even adopted best practices to ensure that Tourism is sustained and continues to grow? I know that some listening to me today will say that Tourism is growing but it depends on which measure stick is used to measure that growth. This I will show later. Some persons would even say that Tourism should not be the industry of choice and we may need to diversify. Whether we think that Tourism is working or not, or if we think that we need to diversify, what is certain is that Tourism will be the major economic driver on Anguilla for generations to come.
With everything said prior lets deal with what the best practices or corrective measures that needs to be implemented.
One of the biggest threats to the Tourism industry in the Caribbean and Anguilla is Energy. Cost per Kilo Watt Hour for Electricity is primarily 4 times more in the Caribbean than in the United States. The Caribbean and by extension Anguilla is heavily dependent on the importation of fossil fuels. This not only translates to higher prices in electricity but also higher prices in everything imported as freight cost are tied to the cost of fuel. Obviously we cannot control what happens outside of Anguilla, but must do everything possible to make changes on the ground. Have we really examined that much of our hard earned money is exported. Using alternative energy would minimize the amount of money exported in fuel cost. It is time for our leaders to put meaningful legislation in place to ensure that businesses and home owners can make use of alternative energy if they so choose. While the initial investment in alternative energy may be prohibitive and while we wait for new legislation businesses must begin to use energy efficient mechanisms. Special incentives must be given to persons and companies willing to import LED bulbs, solar panels etc. I would actually say that energy saving bulbs should probably only incur the import administrative fee. Yes I understand that Government will lose duties but the island will save millions in energy which means more money staying on Anguilla. This will be significant growth.
Tourists to Anguilla come for our beaches among other reasons. We must ensure that prime beach front property is only made available for investment purposes. However we must ensure that although they may own the property bordering the beach, permanent structures are set back enough to compensate for possible beach erosion. We must also ensure that no matter what the investment, that our locals have access to each and every one of our beaches. If our beaches are to remain pristine, we as a people must take responsibility and ensure that we do nothing to harm our beaches. We must ensure that legislation if not already in place is enacted and enforced for litter control on beaches and clean up. We must ensure that yachts in our waters are not dumping waste and thus causing harm to our beaches.
Tourism is a business where the client comes to a particular destination primarily because of a country’s safety. In order for us as Anguillians to feel safe and for Anguilla to look attractive as a Tourist Destination we must look seriously at the escalating crime. We all do understand that the level of crime on Anguilla when compared to other islands may be smaller; however the perception even among us who live on Anguilla is that it is out of control. We can no longer stick our heads in the sand and think that we don’t have a problem. We do! We need to examine the root cause. What is causing our young men and in some cases our young women to commit crimes? Whatever, the problem let’s fix it. As businesses we must play our part to help arrest this problem. We may feel as business owners that this has nothing to do with us, but I am here to tell you that if you do not assist in taking care of this problem and the communities in which we operate, then the communities will not take care of our business. Putting it Bluntly they will turn the guns and knives on our business. Once this happens we can say welcome to St. Croix and Bye Bye Tourist. I am sure many of you know the story of St. Croix.
We are a country that has move away from Agriculture and I must applaud the farmers that still continue to farm. The Tourism industry is highly dependent on fruits and vegetables which more than 95% are currently imported. This is another way that we are exporting money from this island. We must be encouraging persons to farm on a big scale. Actually, I see a possible solution to our crime problem through Agriculture. Government can ear mark lands to young persons who have been in trouble with the law for agricultural purposes. Most of these persons would prefer to be their own Boss. Startup Capital is low and funding could possibly be put in place by a fund put together by the Hotels and Restaurants. Just a thought! Farming methods have changed and many items can now be grown without soil and sometimes with very little water. I know that we will not be able to solve all of our produce importation problems but it would be a method that keeps money on island and thus helps to grow the economy while helping to solve one of our other challenges. The market for the produce is there – We have over 100 restaurants. Our guests want to eat foods that are grown locally. It will be important for farmers or an organization representing the farmers to coordinate the activities of the farmers to ensure that they meet the demand of the Hotels and Restaurants. Now I feel as though I need to make a disclaimer here. This is in no way, the full solution to our crime problem, but one of the methods that can be used with persons who would best fit in this type of scenario.
Anguilla has approximately 200 miles of territorial fishing waters to the North with many species of seafood. Although fishing is another industry, it is one of those industries that are considered a supporting industry. Guests to Anguilla and the Caribbean also come because of our fresh seafood. Our fishermen must also play their part in ensuring that Fish, Lobster, Conch and other seafood will be plentiful for many years to come. This means that they must adhere to the rules and not catch undersize lobsters, crayfish and fish or Lobsters with eggs. By doing so, you destroy the ability for you to continue to make a livelihood tomorrow. However to alleviate these challenges let’s get all fishermen to sell to a fisherman’s Co-op or something of the sort. This way we would be able to control what is bought and sold. There would be certain regulations that would be adhered to at the Co-op and it would take the onus off the restaurants and hotels where a low level line staff in some cases are the ones receiving the goods.
We have made some strides in recent years in regards to Garbage cleanup and control. However, this process is not quick enough. Us as locals must first understand that we need a clean island for ourselves, not necessarily the Tourist. The Tourist will benefit from a clean island but we have to keep it clean for us. Our leaders must enact laws and the relevant organizations must enforce laws to ensure that Anguilla is kept clean. Litter wardens must be given the authority to deal with persons who litter. Garbage must be picked up at regular intervals and garbage collectors must take the responsibility to pick up after themselves when they spill garbage. There is a lot of work to be done in this area.
We need an informed nation. A people that understand all there is to know about tourism. We must introduce tourism awareness programs within our schools at all levels as well as throughout our entire community. More time and money must be spent getting the word out regarding the importance of Tourism, what the benefits of tourism are to our island and everything that we need to do to ensure that we as a people protect this industry. The conversation must be detail so that everyone understands the multiplier effects of the Tourism dollar. This process which must be an ongoing one is actually in my opinion one of the most important sustainable practices that must be carried out if we are to achieve significant growth. However, awareness must be backed by service. We need to become a service minded community. Let me explain this. We hear of all the problems we have with service throughout the island from our Tourist. We hear this about Customs, Immigration, Taxi Drivers, Porters, Supermarket Clerks and sometimes even within the Hotels and Restaurants. My mother always says “Charity begins at Home”. Examine the type of service us as locals receive when we go to pay a bill, or go to get assistance at some of the businesses and agencies on island. If they can’t treat our local people with courtesy, then how do we expect them to treat our Tourists? Every one of us are customers, whether it be the Tourist going to a restaurant or the restaurant going down to Customs to clear goods. If everyone in Anguilla approaches customer service in this way, it will become natural.
It is fair to say that everything mentioned above on its own would not achieve growth. Therefore it is also important for our Leaders to recognize their role towards Anguilla and by extension Tourism. Without meaningful air access into Anguilla we will never achieve growth. We continue to talk about St. Maarten as a hub or better yet as Anguilla’s airport. It is not. St. Maarten continues to grow rapidly and as it does so it means less seats on Airlines for customers coming to Anguilla. Even though we talk about St. Maarten’s Airport as though it belongs to Anguilla, we fail to keep our ports open to acceptable times forcing our guests to sleep in St. Maarten against their will for two nights of their vacation. Just this week, four of my guests had to be re-routed through Miami because of the weather conditions in the Northeast. When they got to Miami we received a call inquiring about how they would get to Anguilla that late at night. The only option was a charter costing $650.00. However, what was so shocking is that when we made the call to the ferry operator, we were told that they would not be able to confirm it for another 2 hours (after 1:00 p.m.) after the other shift of Government workers arrived at the port and decided whether they wanted to work the overtime. If we are to see growth, these are areas that certainly must be taken care of. The country must be marketed in order for meaningful growth to be achieved. In recent years this has not happened. Funds for marketing have been frozen and agencies charged with delivering results have failed to do so without being held accountable. We as a country must also realize that just over 3 million US dollars is not enough to run the entire affairs of tourism including marketing. Less than 5% of Budgeted Revenue is reinvested into Tourism. Most businesses employ budgets of 6 to 10% for marketing alone. If we are to achieve significant growth, we must realize that our competition is spending much more in tourism and marketing. There is a saying that goes like this “what you put in is what you get out”. Being out of the marketplace (in a meaningful way) for a significant period of time has been costly both financially and in the growth of our product. . In recent times we have seen a number of MOU signings for new Tourism projects which should concern all of us in Anguilla. For many this may seem like significant growth. However, without fixing our airlift and marketing these new projects will only help to dilute the occupancy levels to the island. We need to ensure that Anguilla has the demand before we increase the supply. Our occupancy levels on Anguilla is about 20 percentage points lower than the Caribbean’s average and therefore it is important to first get our occupancy up to acceptable levels before building new properties. Yes I understand that this will create construction jobs but then what? The measurement of growth can not only be measured in number of guests to island. This must also be measured in dollars spent. The model embarked on in the 1970’s can work. Because we have not done the work on the marketing side Anguilla has become a discounted island with ADRs much lower than years gone by. Our Total visitor arrivals have still not surpassed our arrivals of 2007 but our day trippers are up almost 7%. What are we doing to convert these day trippers to overnight stays? If we are to achieve significant growth we must go after these day trippers in a meaningful way. Most of us will remember that many of our overnight longtime repeat visitors and even some investors first came to Anguilla as day trippers. Let’s get some information in their hands, let’s give them something meaningful to watch about Anguilla on the boat ride to and from Anguilla, let’s get them to understand that Anguilla is more than Dolphin Discovery and or the beach that they visited. This is low hanging fruit and certainly a way to achieve significant growth.
So as we celebrate this Tourism week, let’s think about all we need to do individually and as a country to create a Sustainable Tourism product and ensure its growth. The Growth of Tourism means the Growth of Anguilla Economically.
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
