Premier Ewing, as the Minister of Tourism, attended a Small Island Developing States Conference, in Nassau Bahamas, this week, as he and his Government continue to explore and develop plans for the diversification of the Tourism Product in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
The two-day conference, held under the theme: TOURISM AS A KEY FACTOR FOR DEVELOPMENT IN ISLAND STATES at the Melia Resort on Cable Beach in Nassau Bahamas was hosted jointly by the Ministry for Tourism of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the World Tourism Organization on February 19-20, 2014.
The Official Opening Ceremony was complete with all the pomp and pageantry that The Bahamas is greatly known for and attended by many stakeholders in the Tourism Industry, including other Ministers of Tourism from neighbouring Caribbean Countries. The Rt. Hon. Perry Christies, Prime Minister of The Bahamas, brought the Key Note Address during the opening celebrations and cautioned attendees on the need to preserve the elements of our tourism product for future generations to enjoy.
Panellists were invited to participate in hot button discussions on a whole range of relevant issues for island destinations like The Turks and Caicos Islands, from the competitiveness and sustainability perspectives, to regional integration, air connectivity, travel facilitation and risk management, to identifying specific challenges and vulnerabilities and examples of relevant actions. The Conference focused mainly on the Caribbean scenario but attendees were also given the opportunity to share with the International Community, at the ministerial and expert levels, further knowledge and lessons learnt for tourism in Small Islands Developing States, worldwide.
The World Tourism Organization (Specialized agency of the United Nations) which was represented by the Secretary General, Mr. Taleb Rifai, among other initiatives, will comprise and disseminate a report on the Challenges and Opportunities for Tourism in Small Island Developing States as a follow-up to the RIO+20 Conference, while the Inter-American Bank hopes to consolidate a joint agenda highlighting tourism development priorities in Small Island Developing States and the next steps for the strengthening of positive impacts of tourism on the local economies and communities within the Caribbean.
Premier Ewing was honoured to have been invited to attend the Conference. He commented, “This Conference is very timely, not only for the Caribbean, but especially for the Turks and Caicos Islands, as we strive to rebuild our economy and strengthen our tourism product. We are proud of the performance of our tourism industry as it continues to be the bread basket for the country, and will embark on the diversification into new areas such as eco-tourism and agri-tourism as the way for the future. This conference however, is critical to us now, as it gave us the tools and insight that we need to enable tourism as a stimulus for growth in our communities, because we firmly believe that the true success of our tourism industry should be defined and measured by how well it positively impacts the small businesses in our communities. Yes, we have achieved the one million visitors, but how can we turn that into dollars and cents for the average businessman. That is our challenge, but as a Government, we are committed to doing just that, and so the tools and lessons learnt that were shared over the past two days will go a long way in helping us achieve that very important objective.”
Among the Turks and Caicos delegation attending the Conference, was Dr. Kingsley Been, Chairman of the Tourist Board, and Mr. Brian Been, Senior Product Development Officer also of the Tourist Board.
Other highlights during the stay in Nassau included cultural performances, musical renditions by the Royal Commonwealth of the Bahamas Police Band and the presentation of the “Open Letter” to the Prime Minister Christie, by the United Nations at the Government House, and hosted by the Governor General, Sir Arthur Alexander Foulkes and Lady Joan Eleanor Foulkes, his wife.
