RTC Director

PREMIER ROBINSON PLEASED WITH TOURISM LEADERS AND PARTNERS AND HOPEFUL FOR A STRONG SEASON

Premier Hon. Sharlene Robinson shared her pleasure with the progress of the Tourism Sectors' Post Irma and Maria efforts and had high praises for the country's leaders in this sector.

"I am delighted with the efforts made by the Minister of Tourism and his Team in the Ministry and at the Board in their stewardship during this time."

At a General Meeting of TCHTA held this week and attended by Premier Robinson and her spouse, Hon Ralph Higgs - Minister of Tourism and Hon Karen Malcolm and her spouse Mr. Walter Malcolm.  Premier Robinson thanked the members of the TCHTA present for their efforts to get their Resorts and businesses open; for the updates received on repairs, progress and challenges shared directly with her; efforts to assist their staff and the efforts to have a strong upcoming season in particular the videos and positive stories. She also pledged her Government's continued assistance where it can.

"I am proud of this Industry during this period under the leadership of President Nikheel Advani and I find in them true, valuable partners. Our leading Industry has been sorely impacted and it is important that we make every effort, with all hands on deck, to rebound stronger in the fast approaching high season. I am equally proud of the go getter leadership of Director of Tourism, Ramon Andrews and the entire Board. Not at least I am proud of the efforts of our renown Minister of Tourism who is more than capable of leading this vital sector. This is true partnership at work and this level of participation, collaboration towards one end goal sets this sector as the Poster Child for what the country must do in order to recover and rebuild stronger than ever before", said Premier Robinson.

"I am optimistic that we will have a strong season and I, like the Minister of Tourism will join in the promotional campaign "Open for Business" by releasing a short welcome video shortly.  We are excited and indeed ready to continue to welcome guests to our resilient and positively beautiful Turks and Caicos Islands."

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PREMIER CONTINUES TO WELCOME CRITICAL DELEGATIONS

Premier Robinson continues to welcome many regional and international partners who are offering assistance and support in the country's Recovery efforts.

"The level of assistance being offered is unprecedented and we are grateful that in this climate where many countries around the world are affected by recent disasters, our country is being considered favorably in our early framing days of our recovery strategy.  We have a few more critical assessments to complete and we are pleased that the various offers of assistance can be factored in for consideration in our Strategic Recovery Framework", said Premier Robinson. "People are eager to learn what if anything the Government is able to do in terms of housing repairs, business support and rebuilding. We are closer to that date and we are pleased with the critical work done thus far."

"Last week I was pleased to welcome the DFID/FCO Reconstruction Team which comprised of critical skills and posts. The Team led by Chris Austin, Barbados based head of the UK Joint Task Force in the region comprised of David Barlow, Consultant on Emergency Planning; Alex Stevens, Head of OT Governance Team, DFID; John Bowker, Infrastructure Advisor, DFID; David Woolnough and Miriam Sachak, head of Economic and Financial team, DFID, FCO. The Team was able to meet with the Governor, myself, Ministers, Senior Public Service Management and critical Department Heads. I was pleased with the dialogue and was satisfied with the initial feedback received in the Debriefing at the end of the Visit. The Team will report to the UK Ministerial Group and formal dialogue will follow on our country's needs and the UK's commitments."

"I was likewise delighted to receive a courtesy call from a Bahamian Delegation led by the Hon Philip Brave Davis, Leader of the Opposition and which included Member of Parliament, Hon Paiswell Forbes and Senator the Hon Jobeth Coleby Davis.

"This week, I welcomed Caribbean representative, Diane Quarless for UN ECLAC. At my invitation, a full delegation will travel to TCI the first week of November to continue the critical damage and Loss Assessment Report. The work of UN ECLAC is critical in assessing our economic loss and recommendations for recovery efforts."

by RTC Director

23rd POST CABINET MEETING STATEMENT

His Excellency the Governor, Dr John Freeman, chaired the 23nd meeting of the Cabinet on Tuesday, 17 October 2017, at the Hilly Ewing Building on Providenciales.

Further information on these matters will be provided by Ministers in due course.

by RTC Director

TCI delegation attends CTO's State of the Industry Conference 2017

The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) hosted its annual State of the Industry Conference on 9-13th October 2017 in the 'Spice Island' of Grenada, under the theme "Super Charging the Caribbean Brand: Meeting the needs of the new explorers".

The conference welcomed a number of high profile speakers, led by Dorsey Levens, Founder and President of Levens Communications, who delivered the key note address; distinguished speakers shared best practices, current trends in tourism and what vacationers are looking for now and in future.

Following the passage of hurricanes Irma and Maria which affected several countries across the region the CTO added to its program a special session: Recover & Rebuild, an in-depth three-hour segment. The session focused on the economic cost of disasters, employment, the cost to rebuild and the recovery time from leading experts. The delegation led by Minister Higgs participated in various sessions including:

    Spicing up the Caribbean Brand
    Active Engagement-Riding the Technological Wave
    Who are the new Explorers?

A staple on the program was the highly anticipated tourism youth congress TCI was represented by Miss Zaria Ingham, Jr. Minister of Tourism. The Caribbean Tourism Youth Congress featured the "National Junior Ministers of Tourism" comprising of students between the ages of 14-17 from several CTO member countries. Participants debated on prominent tourism issues sharing their vision for the future direction of regional tourism.

Minister of Tourism, Environment, Heritage, Culture & Gaming, Ralph Higgs commented; "Although we did not secure the top prize in the competition, Miss Ingham did an amazing job representing Turks and Caicos, I must commend her on an outstanding performance, she was well-prepared and poised presenting on the indigenous Rock Iguanas. This year's conference came at particularly significant time following two devastating hurricanes to ever hit the region, it was important for us as policy makers and tourism professionals to assemble in an effort to share our stories and garner support. Like some of our neighbors, we also used the opportunity to spread the message, that we are open for business."

The team consisted of Minister Hon. Ralph Higgs, Head of Secretariat Mellisa Ariza, Training Manager Ms. Blythe Clare and Jr. Minister of Tourism, Miss Zaria Ingham.

CTO's State of the Industry Conference is the Caribbean Tourism Organization's annual convocation where Caribbean tourism practitioners, policy makers and strategic partners, at the highest levels, gather to discuss issues, identify solutions and generally develop courses of action that will benefit the tourism industry in the Caribbean.

CTO, with headquarters in Barbados and offices in New York and London, is the Caribbean's tourism development agency comprising membership of 28 countries and territories including Dutch, English, French and Spanish, as well as a myriad of private sector allied members.

The organization provides specialized support and technical assistance in sustainable tourism development, marketing, communications, advocacy, human resource development, event planning & execution and research & information technology.

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UK Government Establishing Task Force to Help Reconstruction in Hurricane-Hit Islands

The United Kingdom (UK) government will set up a private sector task force to help long-term reconstruction in countries and territories hit by last month’s Hurricanes Irma and Maria, including the Turks and Caicos Islands.

International Development Secretary in the Department for International Development (DFID), Priti Patel said the task force will mobilize private sector support to rebuild critical infrastructure, such as roads and power supplies, essential to get economies up and running again, and better withstand future natural disasters.

It will also look at ways in which support from the private sector, both financial and technical, in industries such as construction, insurance, banking and tourism, can be used to help reconstruction on the three UK Overseas Territories worst hit by last month’s Hurricane Irma - the British Virgin Islands, Anguilla and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
The team of top business leaders, with experience in the Caribbean, will sit on the task force.
The announcement about the task force was made last Friday at a meeting to discuss the response to the hurricanes and how to enhance global crisis-preparedness and response, hosted by the World Bank in Washington D.C.

Ms. Patel will convene a meeting in London in November to discuss how best to maximize the contribution of the private sector.
The UK government has already committed over £62 million (US$82 million) towards the immediate relief effort, and has delivered or procured nearly 180 tonnes of aid for the region.
It also established a UK Joint Task Force, led by DFID’s Chris Austin, in the immediate aftermath of the hurricanes, to deal with the humanitarian crisis on the ground and the initial relief effort, as well as to carry out assessments to identify both short and longer term needs.

The focus of the private sector task force will specifically be the long-term reconstruction on the affected islands.
“No small island can reasonably be expected to recover and rebuild from a catastrophic disaster that undermines their entire economy, without international support,” Ms. Patel said.
“They need businesses to step up. The private sector is key to reviving the region’s economies and must play a central role in the reconstruction of these islands, helping them to build back better,” she added.

The UK official, who visited British Virgin Islands and Anguilla last month, explained that the longer-term reconstruction, involves working with the affected islands to build back better and more resilient hospitals, schools and other public services like water and power, on which people survive.
“We need to reduce the future potential impact on public services and livelihoods of any future disasters. Investing in preparedness makes good financial sense: each pound saves two pounds of aid,” Patel said.

The UK-led Centre for Global Disaster Protection in London, will offer all the hurricane-hit countries and territories support and advice on disaster risk financing and insurance, to ensure that they are better prepared to cope with any future hurricanes. The centre will also offer advice on building more resilient infrastructure.

The DFID will work with experts to ensure new buildings and systems are more resilient, efficient and use more renewable energy options. This will include more than 12 major climate resilient infrastructure projects; at least 50 strengthened health facilities, and geo-thermal energy development, where the potential exists.

The UK has already donated millions of dollars and much needed aid to several Caribbean countries hit by hurricanes, including Dominica which is struggling to recover from the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria’s direct hit last month.

by RTC Director

The Turks and Caicos Islands Tourist Board says this country is open for business

The Turks and Caicos Islands Tourist Board says this country is open for business, despite being hammered by two catastrophic 5 hurricanes and will be using every available means, to get the word out.

For the month of October, the Ministry of Tourism and the Turks and Caicos Tourist Board have embarked on a comprehensive series of marketing and public relations activities.

Public Relations Officer, Mr. Oehleo Higgs, says the expectations from these initiatives, are to negate any misinformation or bad publicity about the Turks & Caicos following recent storms, to let the world know that the Turks & Caicos is indeed open for business, and to safeguard the remainder of the Fall and Winter travel season for the destination.

The Ministry and Tourist Board seeks to inform the media and the public, in detail, about these noteworthy measures via a press conference, scheduled to take place on Thursday, October 19, 2017 at 4:00 p.m. in the Conference Room at the Office of the Premier.

The Minister of Tourism, Hon. Ralph Higgs and Director of Turks and Caicos Tourist Board, Mr. Ramon Andrews, are expected to be in attendance and share with stakeholders, new captivating videos of the destination post-hurricanes, the use of traditional and digital media to spread the message, restart of Fish Fry, clean-up campaigns, SOTIC 2017, press trips and more.

by RTC Director

Food for Thought working to get its programmes quickly back on track

Now that the government schools are open (for the most part), and Food for Thought has the information it needs to make food orders, the organization says it is working to get its programmes quickly back on track.

Our Breakfast Programme and Food Bank Programme have been temporarily revised in order to accommodate the limited resources available at some of the schools.

Specifically, we are able to continue our usual menu at our Breakfast Programme schools in North and Middle Caicos. Iris Stubbs Primary School in South Caicos is now open using temporary classrooms but as their canteen was severely damaged and their kitchen appliances destroyed we will be providing their students with ready-to-eat breakfast items. When Mary Robinson Primary School in Salt Cay re-opens, we will assess what items can be sent over.

Our Food Bank Programme puts Breakfast Boxes in the guidance counsellors' offices at the other 10 government schools. We will at least double the reach of the Food Bank Programme but we need to ask the public to donate to our Food Banks so we can reach even more children. Our usual shopping list is below but now we are also asking for ready to eat food such as granola bars, fruit cups and individual milk cartons. Many schools still do not have access to power and/or water, and most of their appliances have been ruined. At schools that do have resources to prepare breakfasts we will accommodate them.
Food for Thought is of course also accepting monetary donations.

It's now more important than ever to reach as many children as possible with our free breakfast. Families are facing huge financial and emotional burdens following the devastating Category 5 hurricane and hurricane Maria. With some resorts and restaurants still closed, small businesses struggling with cash flow, limited employment opportunities, many families are struggling with the additional costs of house repairs, replacement of damaged belongings and so on.

You can take your donations to Savory & Co., Quality Food Centre, Crust Bakery, Graceway Sports Centre, British West Indies Collegiate, Bark + Bliss, Scotiabank Grace Bay, West Indie and International School of Turks and Caicos Islands.

by RTC Director

40 people missing as migrant vessel sinks off Haiti en route to Providenciales

Authorities in Haiti have confirmed that about 40 people are missing, after a migrant vessel sunk on the northern coast of Haiti.

Haiti’s civil emergency agency said seven people were rescued yesterday by search teams scouring the seas off the island of La Tortue.
The vessel sank after leaving La Tortue earlier in the day for Providenciales Island in the northern Turks and Caicos archipelago, 200 kilometres to the north.
According to the survivors, three of whom were hospitalized on their return to Haiti, the vessel was
In a country where more than 60 per cent of the population lives on less than US$2 a day, there are carrying 50 people when it sank.frequent attempts to reach the Bahamas or Turks and Caicos illegally.

Just last week, the Department of Immigration in the Ministry of Border Control and Employment, confirmed the arrival of a number of illegal Migrants, following reports of a possible more than 150 men, women and children of Haitian nationality, were found in and around the waters of West Caicos.

The Task Force in the Department of Immigration, apprehended and ferried those migrants to the processing unit in Providenciales for processing and repatriation to their native home - the Republic of Haiti.

Meanwhile the Department of Immigration in the Ministry of Border Control and Employment continues to remind the public that harboring illegal migrants is a crime and that such persons can now face a fine of $20,000 on summary conviction or to a term of imprisonment of four years, or to both. In addition, persons acquiring status other than by birth that are convicted of such an offense, face the possibility of having their status in the Islands revoked, thereby making them liable to deportation.

by RTC Director