The Caribbean's new tourism

By David Jessop
Director of the Caribbean Council


Across the Caribbean, governments and the tourism industry are developing new strategies and initiatives aimed at trying to offset the fall in visitor arrivals that most nations expect from April onwards as a consequence of the global economic crisis.

As nothing else before has done, the recession has caused a much needed and long overdue recognition of the importance of an industry that over the last two decades has come to dominate almost all Caribbean economies and create important linkages with local manufacturing, services and agriculture.

Tourism threatened

Recently the United Nations' Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) made clear the potential threat that the recession posed to the industry in the region.

It noted that about 75 per cent of tourists to the English-speaking Caribbean came from economies in recession; predicted that tourism in 2009 will only grow by a maximum of between zero and two per cent; and reported that tourism has become the main source of income for all but the three Caribbean economies (Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad).

In response to the impending crisis in tourism Jamaica, the OECS, Barbados and the Bahamas have introduced fiscal relief programmes for the industry and have identified new forms of marketing support and other measures aimed at stimulating tourism growth.

But while these are welcome developments, in some cases they are short term and carry with them the implied or actual suggestion that within a year or so business will return to normal.

Unfortunately, this may not be the case in most of the region’s major markets for reasons that go back to well before the present crisis began.

Decline

Since 2007 the international travel market has been undergoing a process of change as a consequence of which the Caribbean (with the notable exceptions of Jamaica, Cuba and the Dominican Republic) had begun to experience a significant decline in tourism arrivals as competition grew from other global destinations.

There are many reasons for this but all in the end come down to whether the Caribbean’s tourism offering is internationally competitive and if the specific mix of product, marketing, reputation and facilities in individual nations, reflect the aspirations of an increasingly diversified international travel market.

Put another way is very easy for regional destinations to continue doing the same thing: seeing vacations in the Caribbean as only being about sun and sand; building more rooms; continuing to focus on all-inclusives, condominiums and attracting global brands; and relying on traditional feeder markets, without recognising that the tourism market is changing

Segmentation

The new tourism market is becoming more segmented and subject to clients changing aspirations about themselves, their lifestyles and where and how they wish to vacation.

This is not to say that the regions traditional market for beach vacations will disappear.

Rather it is to ask the question how the region might extend its industry in ways that are new, and to note the need to add value to the existing product through facilities and attractions that encourage more higher end visitors.

Most studies on future trends in tourism identify radically changing approaches on the part of these visitors.

They tend to divide visitor thinking by age and wealth.

They suggest there will be time rich individuals largely between 50 and 70 years of age on good pensions who can travel without constraint.

These are visitors who are looking to broaden their experience, knowledge and happiness through understanding more about where they visit and more about themselves through what they experience or through more formal learning.

In effect they are not tourists they are travellers.

Tailor made vacations

They want to change the relationship between host and guest and seek genuine rather than staged experiences.

They want a destination to offer opportunities to be able to extend themselves through creative pursuits and educational, spiritual or religious activity in order to mark a way point in their life.

By default this rapidly growing segment of the market require tailor made vacations and much more in the way of alternative facilities to those offered by traditional beach hotels, tour operators and cruise lines.


boats in a Caribbean harbour

Such visitors contrast greatly with another category: those that are time-poor but relatively well off financially.

This group will typically be in professional or skilled employment, be between twenty and forty and willing to spend money in a manner that will deliver an experience through a single purchase that requires a travel agent, tour operator or local company prepared to provide a complete, high quality services from arrival to departure.

Beyond this changing profile of visitors and their needs other changes are taking place in the international tourism market.

Expanding markets

Traditionally the region has sourced the majority of its visitors from North America and Europe and to a much lesser extent the rest of the region. It has also placed an emphasis on returning friends and family.

However, the new high growth markets for travel are non-traditional; the emerging economies of Brazil, China, India and Russia while there is a slowly growing appetite for long haul travel from the EU states of Eastern Europe.

The challenge is to find new ways to establish the region and individual destinations as brands in these markets and as being locations where visitors can do more than lie on the beach or play golf.

Jamaica has already proved that market diversification is possible. It has enhanced its brand with much help from the international recognition of reggae and its sporting achievement.

It is moving rapidly to develop a new product mix that includes a wide range of events, it is cultivating faith based tourism; has diversified its market so that it is seeking visitors from China, the far East and Latin America, is planning a school of hospitality using international expertise to improve training and service levels; and is exploring many other possibilities that will appeal to the new traveller.

This is the precise moment at which the industry across the region and government should be undertaking some soul searching about what it offers and looking at its shortcomings and identifying how it might take advantage of the global upturn when it occurs.

--BBC Caribbean.com

Antiguans await election date

Antigua's Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer has kept voters guessing as to when they will go to the polls to elect a new government.

Addressing a political rally Sunday night, Mr Spencer would only announce that parliament had been dissolved as of Monday, and he had to ensure "that certain things are in place" before he can set a date.

The two main political parties had started unofficial campaigning well ahead of the prime minister's speech.

Both political camps have been regularly issuing counter releases putting corruption and crime on the campaign agenda.

The governing United Progressive Party (UPP) will be seeking its second term at the upcoming poll.

The UPP took up office in March 2004, after it defeated the Antigua Labour Party (ALP), which led the country for 28 years.

To the wire

Some political observers have expressed surprise that Mr Spencer appears to be taking his term down to the wire, even though unofficial campaigning began last November.

Political analyst Philip Abbott offers critical support to the government.

He told BBC Caribbean that the effects of the financial crisis will only get worse and that the prime minister should call the election sooner rather than later.

"The US economy affects us a lot, things in the US are not going too good right now.

"The same thing in Europe - we are a tourism-based country and all the factors of tourism are slowing down," Mr Abbott, a member of the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM), said.

Crime

In addition to the effects of the financial crisis, rising crime is also expected to feature prominently in the run-up to the election.

The government has sought help from foreign police officers to deal with increased criminal activity.

However, Canadian-born Police Commissioner Gary Nelson was fired in July 2008.

Mr Nelson had been in charge when a Welsh honeymooning couple had been killed at an Antiguan resort.

In the high-profile exchange of words after the dismissal, government had said that Mr Nelson's probationary period had not been renewed.


Lester Bird voting in 2004 polls

In 2004, Lester Bird had said the elections had been based on a time for change

Mr Nelson had questioned the resources given to Antigua's police force and has filed a lawsuit against the government.

"Overboard"

CCM's Philip Abbott noted that both political parties seem desperate to be elected.

"The UPP has been putting forward what it has done, to some extent, but they're also going a bit overboard in other ways.

"The Labour Party has certainly gone overboard in certain directions," Mr Abbot said.

Last election

Baldwin Spencer led the UPP to a landslide victory in general elections in March 2004.

The ALP had been seeking a seventh term in office.

The UPP win had ended the political dynasty of the Bird family, which had dominated Antiguan politics for more than half a century.

Current ALP leader Lester Bird had run Antigua and Barbuda as prime minister from 1994 to 2004 after taking over from his father Vere Bird senior, the country's first prime minister.

During his 2004 campaign, Mr Spencer promised to fight corruption and added that "crimes committed against the people" would not go unpunished.

In 2004, Mr Bird had told BBC Caribbean that his party had laid down strict anti-corruption guidelines, following a 2002 inquiry into the national medical insurance scheme that led to fraud charges against seven officials.

Mr Bird had said after the 2004 result that the people had just wanted a change.

"Elections were not contested on issues but on the basis of a time for change," he said at the time.

The election campaign promises to take place during a busy time for Antiguans and Barbudans for several reasons other than politics.

The hearing into the case against the two men charged with killing the Welsh honeymoon couple from south Wales is now scheduled to take place on 25 March.

And, the second test between England and the West Indies takes place in Antigua 13-17 February.

--BBC Caribbean.com

Old St. Croix

St. Kitts & Nevis

The Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis (also known as the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis), located in the Leeward Islands, is a federal two-island nation in the West Indies. It is the smallest nation in the Americas, in both area and population.

The capital city and headquarters of government for the federated state is on the larger island of Saint Kitts. The smaller state of Nevis lies about 2 miles (3 km) southeast of Saint Kitts, across a shallow channel called "The Narrows".

Historically, the British dependency of Anguilla was also a part of this union, which was then known collectively as Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla.

Saint Kitts and Nevis are geographically part of the Leeward Islands. To the north-northwest lie the islands of Saint Eustatius, Saba, Saint Barthélemy, and Saint-Martin/Sint Maarten. To the east and northeast are Antigua and Barbuda, and to the southeast is the small uninhabited island of Redonda, and the island of Montserrat, which currently has an active volcano (see Soufrière Hills.)

Saint Kitts and Nevis were amongst the first islands in the Caribbean to be settled by Europeans. Saint Kitts was home to the first British and French colonies in the Caribbean.

Saint Kitts and Nevis is the smallest nation on Earth to ever host a World Cup event; it was one of the host venues of the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

Saint Kitts was named "Liamuiga" by the Kalinago Indians who inhabited the island. This name, roughly translated in English means "fertile land," a testimony to the island's rich volcanic soil and high productivity.

Nevis' pre-Columbian name was "Oualie", which translates to "land of beautiful waters", presumably referred to the island's many freshwater springs and hot volcanic springs.

Christopher Columbus, upon sighting what we now call Nevis in 1498, gave that island the name San Martin (Saint Martin). However, the confusion of numerous, poorly-charted small islands in the Leeward Island chain, meant that the name ended up being accidentally transferred to another island, the one which we now know as the French/Dutch island Saint-Martin/Sint Maarten.

The current name "Nevis" is derived from a Spanish name Nuestra Señora de las Nieves, by a process of abbreviation and anglicization. This Spanish name means Our Lady of the Snows. It is not known who chose this name for the island, but it is a reference to the story of a 4th century Catholic miracle: a snowfall on the Esquiline Hill in Rome. Presumably the white clouds which usually wreathe the top of Nevis Peak reminded someone of the story of a miraculous snowfall in a hot climate. The island of Nevis, upon first British settlement was referred to as "Dulcina", a name meaning "sweet one". Its original Spanish name, "Nuestra Señora de las Nieves", was eventually kept however, though it was soon shortened to "Nevis".

There is some disagreement over the name which Columbus gave to St. Kitts. For many years it was thought that he named the island San Cristobal, after his patron saint Saint Christopher, the saint of travelling. However, new studies suggest that Columbus named the island Sant Jago (Saint James). The name "San Cristobal" was apparently given by Columbus to the island we now know as Saba, 20 miles northwest. It seems that "San Cristobal" came to be applied to the island of St. Kitts only as the result of a mapping error. No matter the origin of the name, the island was well documented as "San Cristobal" by the 17th century. The first British colonists kept the English translation of this name, and dubbed it "St. Christopher's island." In the 17th century Kit, or Kitt, was a common abbreviation for the name Christopher, and so the island was often informally referred to as "Saint Kitt's island," which was further shortened to "Saint Kitts."

Today, the Constitution refers to the nation as both "Saint Kitts and Nevis" and "Saint Christopher and Nevis", but "Saint Kitts and Nevis" is the form commonly used both at home and abroad.

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History of Saint Kitts and Nevis
The islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis are two of the Caribbean's oldest colonised territories. Saint Kitts became the first British colony in the West Indies in 1624 and then became the first French colony in the Caribbean in 1625, when both nations decided to partition the island.

Five thousand years prior to European arrival, the island was settled by Indian peoples. The latest arrivals, the Kalinago peoples, arrived approximately 3 centuries before the Europeans. The Kalinago allowed the Europeans to colonize Saint Kitts, while earlier attempts to settle other islands were met with immediate destruction of the colonies by the Indians. The Kalinago were eventually wiped out in the great Kalinago Genocide of 1626. Often overlooked in history is the fact that in the 1600s, under Cromwell's reign, England shipped approximately 25,000 Irish to St. Kitts as slaves to work on the island.

Battle of Saint Kitts, 1782, as described by an observer in a French engraving titled "Attaque de Brimstomhill".

The island of Nevis was colonized in 1628 by British settlers from Saint Kitts. From there, Saint Kitts became the premier base for British and French expansion, as the islands of Antigua, Montserrat, Anguilla and Tortola for the British, and Martinique, the Guadeloupe archipelago and St. Barths for the French were colonized from it.

Although small in size, and separated by only 2 miles (3 km) of water, the two islands were viewed and governed as different states until the late 19th century, when they were forcefully unified along with the island of Anguilla by the British. To this day relations are strained, with Nevis accusing Saint Kitts of neglecting its needs.

Saint Kitts and Nevis, along with Anguilla, became an associated state with full internal autonomy in 1967. Angullians rebelled, and their island was allowed to separate from the others in 1971. St. Kitts and Nevis achieved independence in 1983. It is the newest sovereign nation in the Americas. In August 1998, a vote in Nevis on a referendum to separate from St. Kitts fell short of the two-thirds majority needed. In late September 1998, Hurricane Georges caused approximately $445 million in damages and limited GDP growth for the year.

Alexander Hamilton, the first United States Secretary of the Treasury, was born in Nevis; he spent his childhood there and on St. Croix, then belonging to Denmark, and now one of the United States Virgin Islands.

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Politics

Saint Kitts and Nevis is a full member of the Caricom.

The country is an independent Commonwealth realm with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state, represented in St. Kitts and Nevis by a Governor-General, who acts on the advice of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. The prime minister is the leader of the majority party of the House, and the cabinet conducts affairs of state.

St. Kitts and Nevis has a unicameral legislature, known as the National Assembly. It is composed of fourteen members: eleven elected Representatives (three from the island of Nevis) and three Senators who are appointed by the Governor-General. Two of the senators are appointed on the advice of the Prime Minister, and one on the advice of the leader of the opposition. Unlike in other countries, senators do not constitute a separate Senate or upper house of parliament, but sit in the National Assembly, alongside representatives. All members serve five-year terms. The Prime Minister and the Cabinet are responsible to the Parliament.

Saint Kitts and Nevis is a full and participating member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).
--Wikipedia

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