CHTA President calls for own tourism solutions

12-07-23

The president of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) called on Caribbean tourism leaders to shape their own destiny in the vital travel and tourism sector, and not be swayed by the agendas of interests outside the region.

Nicola Madden-Greig noted that while overall tourism activity in the Caribbean has almost returned to pre-pandemic levels, with some destinations growing by "leaps and bounds", others remain in recovery mode, largely due to an imbalance in flight dispersal and insufficient marketing resources.

For the region's tourism sector to recover fully and fairly, Madden-Greig said it is important for government leaders to formulate policies and strategies that promote regular, predictable and inter-island connectivity.

The head of the region's leading private sector tourism organisation said such a move would not only encourage tourists to visit more islands, but would also help meet the needs of Caribbean residents travelling for family, business and leisure. 

"We must support airlines that are stepping up to strengthen our air connections, but we must also use this air transport crisis as an opportunity to find an indigenous solution in our region," she said.

Madden-Greig echoed the advice of Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, who urged the region's tourism leaders to abandon post-colonial attitudes, take charge of their tourism sectors and be "shapers, not takers", while delivering the keynote address at the CHTA's successful Caribbean Travel Forum, which preceded the association's Caribbean Travel Marketplace, held in Barbados in May.

He also agreed with Prime Minister Mottley's call for better use of regional capital, and urged policymakers to design new financial instruments that can be used for the region's biggest revenue generator, tourism, rather than letting it sit idle in low-interest bearing accounts.

Despite its inherent volatility, Madden-Greig described tourism as "the fastest growing and most dynamic sector of the global economy", adding that the Caribbean "must not be left helpless, tied only to the destinations of others". While international partnership has its value, regional collaboration is essential. The work is too important not to have independent regional solutions". 

"We must continue to solidify ties with our international partners, but we must also take a cue from the pages of entrepreneurs like Adam Stewart and Kevin Hendrickson in Jamaica, Peter Odle in Barbados, the Lamontagne family in St Lucia and the Hopkin family in Grenada, to name a few, and become architects of our own destiny," he said. Tourism is the economic engine of the region, but it can also be a vehicle for generational wealth creation for Caribbean people, she said.

Madden-Greig, who is Group Director of Marketing and Sales for The Courtleigh Hospitality Group in Jamaica, believes that as the tourism industry continues to grow, a serious effort should be made to implement pension schemes for tourism workers throughout the region, especially given the volatility of the current labour market. 

Praising the success of the Jamaican government's efforts to implement such a system, he reasoned that the welfare of tourism workers, who have been the foundation for building the region's largest revenue engine, must be a priority. 

"Many of our workers are retiring with little or no safety net, and it is time we got more serious about addressing this problem," he said.