| Anguilla is one of the various small economies in the region where there is a high dependence on tourism, and where the expression of carrying “all our eggs in one basket” fittingly applies. |
| To us, in Anguilla, the tourism industry is like the fabled pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. If, by chance, it were possible to travel to that grand cosmic point to fetch the imagined wealth spoken about, we would be in a hapless situation to find that it is not really there. In the same way, if we believe that our tourism industry can simply exist on mere speculation or imagination, and there is to be no real effort on our part to safeguard and further develop it, it would soon disappear: either by itself, or some other islands and people, with a lot of foresight and marketing resources at their disposal, will take our place as leaders of the industry. There can be no better way of expressing these concerns when one takes into account the warnings issued by the Director of Tourism, Candis Niles, and the President of the Hotel and Tourism Association, Sherille Hughes, at the opening of Tourism Week. Both of them spoke about how Anguilla once enjoyed an enviable leadership position in regional tourism with its world-class resorts, astounding beaches, delectable cuisine and a most friendly and community-spirited people. Yet, despite all of this, Anguilla now finds itself lagging behind other competing islands or struggling to keep abreast with them. Mrs. Hughes was even more blunt in her presentation, pointing to the failure of some tourism projects which mar our beautiful shorelines; a number of non-starter developments; declarations of bankruptcies and various legal issues. One sad matter, which is still in the creeping stage, but which is a great cause for concern, is what appears to be the growing incidence of crime, particularly violent robberies by masked felons armed with guns, machetes and other weapons. These types of offences are, for now, limited to private homes and businesses, but are certainly a most ominous threat to our tourism industry. Some of our tourists already have cocked ears while moving around the island for any untoward sound or indication of violence. Just the other day an idle youngster threw a stone into a bus in which a number of visitors were travelling. They immediately claimed it was a gunshot and were only convinced otherwise when the driver showed them the stone inside the vehicle. Needless to say that the taxi-man suffered a broken expensive window and lost several hires, and a considerable amount of money, as he had to put down his bus and use a car with very limited passenger accommodation. Incidence of serious crime certainly will be a big drawback to our tourism product if we do not take stock of violence and lawlessness in our island. Chief Minister, Hubert Hughes, has been quoted as telling Alan Duncan, the British Minister, responsible for the Department for International Development, that he (Mr. Duncan) was proposing new taxes for Anguilla at a time “when we are having issues of minimal crime happening because people are out of work”. It is not certain whether the blatant robberies are merely because the offenders are unemployed or rather a result of downright dishonesty and laziness, with the criminalshaving a preference for easy living by plundering unsuspecting and defenseless persons. Many of our politicians appear to have a common problemof calling a spade a spade. It may be up to members of the public to state when last they heard the Chief Minister orother political leaders openly condemning crime and violence, calling for the punishment of criminals or for support of the Police. We all need to fearlessly do this as part of our drive to safeguard our now flagging tourism industry. With Tourism Week currently being observed in Anguilla, there is a great need to reset our industry on its feet, so to speak, and to re-position our island with all our wits and vigourin order to again claim the leadership role we have had for many years. Tourism is our main food basket and we must protect it in the interest of the wellbeing of Anguilla and its people. |
