An increase in illegal beach vending as well as tourist harassment is becoming very alarming and is raising concerns among the destination’s tourism partners especially its leading private sector association TCHTA.
The Association’s Board met recently to address these concerns which have seen the once highly ranked tourism destination drop from the number 1 to number 5 island in the world and from the number 1 beach to number 4 beach in the world on the popular TripAdvisor site.
In addition to the increase in illegal beach vending and tourist harassment, long lines in the departure area at the country’s major airport and slow processing by Immigration as it relates to work permits were also discussed with the hope of finding quick and effective solutions which will alleviate the issues.
The Board noted, “These rising negative trends are very alarming and we are finding ourselves working overtime to ensure that our tourism product is not tarnished severely. The Association and its members can continue to pump money into promoting the destination but this will all be for naught if visitors don’t feel safe and at peace when they visit.
We rely on our visitors to help us promote TCI on sites like TripAdvisor through their positive reviews but not only are we seeing less visitors voting for us in the various categories but we are also seeing an increase in negative reviews.”
Residents who are involved in these illegal activities especially on our beaches need to realize what damage they are doing to the tourism product, damage, which may be irreversible in the long run. Why jeopardize our industry for a quick dollar? The industry belongs to all of us and we all need to play a positive part in its growth and survival.
A better partnership must also be forged with our tourism partners, TCIG and the Police Force to resolve the issues at the airport, the illegal beach vending and tourist harassment in particular. ”
The Board is also gravely concerned with the new Immigration processing rules which have created an enormous burden on businesses in the industry as they may not be able to reach their staffing levels required to run their operations effectively. The Board will be reaching out to all relevant groups in the near future to address the concerns and members will also sensitize and educate their staff who in turn will educate their friends and family about being a positive part of our tourism industry puzzle.
