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By Annan Boodram |
Bridgetown, Barbados: Considered the most developed of all the Caribbean nations and one with a developed world standard of living, Barbados was a mixed bag of experience for this writer when I attended the ninth annual edition of the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Investment Conference (CHTIC 2005) at the Sherbourne Conference Center earlier this month. I was saved the embarrassment of being arrested for wearing army camouflage - summer shorts and shirt that is in vogue in the US but apparently illegal in Barbados unless one is a member of the armed forces of one or another nation. As soon as I stepped out of the hotel, I received several warnings and so was able to change into something more legal before venturing out of the hotel compound. But at the back of my mind was the thought that perhaps visitors ought to be made aware of this law.
My second disappointment was being left behind on what I was told turned out to be a wonderful safari. Apparently the driver of the pick up vehicle did not have my name on his list. A bit more accurate coordination by the authorities would have been nice. A third disappointment was the fact that I returned from the conference hall one day to that my room had not been cleaned and the bed had not been made up. And the hotel administrators did not apologize until the day I was leaving. But I will not name the hotel here because these things do happen and one would hope that they are more careful in the future.
On the flip side Barbados was enjoyable - a veritable paradise that every person should visit at least once in a lifetime. And for me the conference was intense even though the venue seemed to have been in a state of ongoing repairs.
PROFITT
At the conference itself, over 400 delegates and 275 companies participated, shared ideas on investment opportunities in the 2005 program, enhanced by the P.R.O.F.I.T. Partnership Meeting and the presentation of reports on Regional Tourism Investment Fund (RTIF). And after two days of high-level discussions that brought together the hotel and tourism industry, governments, and the finance and investment communities to address the most recent issues affecting the development of Caribbean tourism, the overriding consensus was that Caribbean tourism is robust and on the upswing.
This year CHTIC reached a new milestone with the addition of a business component-a PROFIT in the Caribbean Partnership Meeting sponsored by ProInvest, a programme of the Group of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States and the European Commission. This business component of CHTIC sought to match pre-qualified tourism projects in the Caribbean with pre-screened European investors to promote partnership and investment opportunities in the tourism sector. Indeed it was refreshing to see the number of proposals under review for funding but, once again Guyana, the least developed tourism destination, but one with great potential, was conspicuous by its absence.
This was the second PROFIT Partnership Meeting held in the Caribbean. The first one was held as a stand-alone event in October 2004 in Jamaica, which saw more than 100 Caribbean project proposals meeting with investors and providers of services.
Hand-in-hand, the RTIF, funded by a grant from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office of the British Government, is a key element in developing a consortium of banks and financial institutions to create a fund dedicated to tourism interests in the Caribbean. It allows mainly small businesses to gain access to investments, thus contributing to the development of tourism in the region and putting a larger share in the hands of Caribbean nationals. The RTIF report outlined a matrix of the expected capital needs by the sector. And made recommendations as to how the RTIF could be established and managed, while identifying potential partners and investors and cost structures.
Other Highlights
Other highlights of the conference included the address by Barbados Prime Minister, The Right Honourable Owen S Arthur on the subject of the Caribbean single market economy and a presentation on preparations for the 2007 Cricket World Cup by Chris Dehring, MD and CEO for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 Inc.
Also at the conference, KPMG's Travel, Leisure, and Tourism industry services practice presented the results of its first Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Financing Outlook survey. The survey covered banks with an aggregate exposure to the hospitality industry in the Caribbean of more than US$1.5 billion, and included large cross-jurisdictional and international banks such as Butterfield Bank, Deutsche Bank, FirstCaribbean International Bank, RBTT, Royal Bank of Canada, Scotiabank, as well as members of the Caribbean Association of Indigenous Banks. Presenting the results to an enthusiastic audience, Simon Townend, partner with KPMG in the Bahamas, concluded that the results of the survey indicated that major lenders in the region are optimistic about the future of the regional hospitality industry over the short to medium term.
Also presented at CHTIC was a strategic partnership agreement signed in January 2005, between FirstCaribbean International Bank and CHA to, among other things, provide hotel workers across the region with special concessions on loans and mortgages. Under the agreement, which, in part, should facilitate the development of programs to benefit CHA member hotels, FirstCaribbean has also agreed to fund research done by CHA. Furthermore the association will make FirstCaribbean International Bank its official bank.
Butch Stewart Honored
The high-level, prolific gathering was also marked by the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award to enigmatic and outspoken Jamaican hotelier and entrepreneur, Dr. Gordon "Butch" Stewart, in recognition of his accomplishments in the lodging industry, as well as for his substantial contributions to the community
"This award was established last year to honor the people that take the notion of success to its pinnacle," said Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) President Berthia Parle, MBE, herself another industry dynamo. "In addition to his mark as an innovator and trendsetter, who re-defined all-inclusive vacationing in the Caribbean, Butch gives new meaning to the term philanthropy; before terms such as corporate responsibility ever hit the mainstream in the tourism industry, Sandals and Beaches Resorts had become active citizens in their surrounding communities.
"Sandals` Mafoota Farmers Market is a recent example of the vision and determination that have carved Butch Stewart a place in Caribbean history. The eight-year association of Sandals Montego Bay with the Mafoota Farmers, in which the hotel initially supplied seeds of exotic vegetables to the farmers, the Rural Agricultural Development Authority provided extension services, and the hotel provided a market for the crops, has developed into something even greater. On a recent trip to Mafoota by the Sandals team, it was discovered that hundred of pounds of vegetables are dumped each week because the farmers do not have enough of a market for their produce. In response, Sandals Montego Bay launched the Mafoota Farmers` Market, which now takes place every Friday by the taxi stand at the property. Sandals Montego Bay provides the location, a big tent, and promotion for the market. The Mafoota farmers bring fresh produce, which is sold at almost farm gate prices. On inauguration day, patrons came from all over Montego Bay and most of the produce was sold off within the first hour.
Tourism Impact
In the Caribbean, travel and tourism accounts for 14.8 percent of total GDP and is expected to increase its share by almost 2 percent points to 16.5 percent by 2013. The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) reported year 2004 showed robust growth across the board except for government expenditures. 2005 is slightly off the level of growth however, reads noticeably higher than 10 annualized forecast.
Two Caribbean countries owe more than 75 percent of their economies to travel and tourism; for another four, it is between 50-75 percent; and 25-50 percent for a further 10 countries, according to the President of the CHA, Miss Berthia Parle. "In the next 10 years, the tourism share of GDP forecast at 16.5 percent is expected to generate 17.1 percent employment bringing than numbers to 3.2 million."
Barbados Member of Parliament Noel A. Lynch said tourism has been good for Barbados and for the region. However, he said only through reinvention and renewal will the region's hospitality remain globally competitive. "In a region so dependent on tourism and hospitality for its existence, the WTTC estimates the Caribbean is the most tourism intensive region in the world".
Alongside resort developments, investment in the region focuses on "the human investment". Human resource capacity of the Caribbean, though normally not considered in more serious terms, Ms. Parle said should be on top of the agenda. "It does not matter if the tourism product and infrastructure support raises to perfection if we do not regard investing to ensure that our most important asset is our people". It has been noted that given a bigger budget, Caribbean hotel managers prefer to allocate to rooms, and secondly to staff training -- an amount that can go up to 50 percent of yearly allocation.
Founded in 1997 CHTIC creates a sustainable forum for bringing together business partners from the EU and third countries to promote investment in and development of the tourism sector in the ACP Caribbean. It provides a major business-to-business platform for the Caribbean tourism sector with special support for small, medium and large-scale businesses. EU partners include ICEX, FTO and Ubifrance which collaborate with CHA in the promotion of partnerships between EU and ACP Caribbean companies. CHTIC has the specific objectives of improving the tourism investment and operating climate across the region; making the investment community aware of the development opportunities available in the Caribbean; and stimulating a continuing flow of both equity and loan capital into the region. CHTIC 2005 was presented by the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA), in conjunction with the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), and Burba Hotel Network (BHN).