Anguilla News covers Anguilla and the wider
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CARIBBEAN
CAN WEATHER TOURISM STORM, PREDICTS SENATOR ALLEN CHASTANET
Date Posted: June 18, 2008.
CASTRIES, St. Lucia - While the price of oil sky-rockets and
airlines reduce services and increase fares to some
Caribbean destinations, one of the region's most experienced
tourism officials wants the Caribbean to embark on
innovative strategies to mitigate any negative fallout in
Caribbean travel.
Senator Allen Chastanet, St. Lucia's Minister of Tourism and
Civil Aviation, suggests there is a silver lining in the
midst of today's economic crisis and the Caribbean must be
aggressive in the short and medium terms in order to be
competitive in the long term.
"With the cutback in long haul travel between the United
States and Europe and Asia, for example, there is an
opportunity for our region if we aggressively market the
Caribbean to the segment of the American market that's
unlikely to be affected by the economic downturn," he said,
explaining that during crises Americans still travel, but
want to stay closer to home.
Suggesting there was an opportunity in focusing on the upper
end of the market, he feared that "bargain destinations"
like Cuba and the Dominican Republic, would have a harder
time surviving in the prevailing economic environment, but
encouraged the entire Caribbean to pool their marketing
resources and to find the opportunity in today's crisis.
Upcoming regional meetings in Washington DC and Antigua
should help chart the way forward, he predicted.
Senator Chastanet, who also is chairman of the Caribbean
Tourism Organisation, said St. Lucia was interested in
pursuing the faith tourism market, highlighting the
successful social and humanitarian mission of the
California-based Miles Ahead organisation which recently
brought 300 volunteers, including 80 medical professionals,
and some US $5 million in free medical equipment,
pharmaceuticals and health care to Jamaica. The volunteers,
which included specialist doctors, pediatricians, surgeons,
dentists and nurses, held free clinics and served local
communities.
"We have preliminarily explored this market in St. Lucia in
the past, but clearly we need to give this renewed
priority," he said, citing volunteerism, faith tourism and
the girlfriend getaway market as exciting trends that are
unlikely to be seriously affected by the prevailing economic
conditions.
He also suggested tapping into multicultural communities in
North America such as the Asian American market. "We are
spending a lot of time talking about bringing Chinese and
Russians to the Caribbean, but without the direct airlift,
wouldn't it be logical to target their sizable and upwardly
mobile expatriate communities in North America and Europe?"
the Senator asked.
The tourism minister suggested an immediate channeling of
existing marketing energies into the challenging Fall season
- between September and November - rather than injecting
precious marketing resources for Summer travel. "It's
already too late for the summer months, we need to start
planning for the Fall when business will be very difficult,"
he suggested.
