INCORPORATING the unique natural tourist resources of the Caribbean with other services was proposed as an innovative marketing strategy to continue luring tourists in an era when there are numerous competing regions. Speaking to delegates of the 13th Sustainable Tourism Development Conference (STC) at the Guyana International Conference Centre via a video message on Monday, Former President Bharrat Jagdeo made reference to the social services such as health and education, the benefits of which tourists can find advantageous.
“Because of the cost of health care in North America and in Europe…People travel to destinations that can provide health tourism…How do we expand the education industry, to export educational services by creating more universities that attract people into our region… a whole range of people travel to visit them, their relatives, etc they become much more familiar with our region,” Jagdeo said.
But as the delegates brainstorm these ideas Jagdeo brought to their attention the variations likely to take place in the tourism sector and, the new wave of tourists likely to emerge as a result of the economic crisis in the developed world.
He made reference to the Chinese, Brazilian and Indian populations which he said are often not perceived differently to those from Europe and as such have not been targeted as potential tourists.
“So too many of our immigration officials think that they have to keep people from China and Brazil and India out of our markets. Our whole entire immigration policies are dedicated to keeping people out from these regions rather than encouraging them to come in. Many of our tourism institutes and structures are not training people to deal with those tourists. Our language training, training on culture and food and customs, practices are lagging way behind those tourist markets,” he said.
The impact which the economic crisis has on tourists from the developed world and the prediction that some three billion middle class people will represent those from the developing world is evidence which Jagdeo pointed to that the region must gear itself to target new and emerging tourism markets.
He made reference to the Chinese, Brazilians and Indian population which he opined have been kept out of the region’s markets, evidenced by immigration policies that lack the necessary training to cater to language, food, customs and practices of these markets.
In this regard, the STC delegates were encouraged to examine a specific plan as to how the Caribbean, through a single visa policy or direct flights, can make life easy for people from the new potential markets.
The task will call for a rethink of Immigration policy and the establishment of institutes to train people in the culture of these new markets.