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News from the Caribbean as of
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Dominica’s tourism industry to become more competitive
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
by Malaika Laurent
Caribbean Net News Dominica Correspondent
Email: malaika@caribbeannetnews.com
ROSEAU, Dominica: Dominica’s tourism product is locked in a cycle of uncompetitveness, according to a Tourism Master Plan prepared to guide stakeholders and others in the tourism industry.
Tourism Minister Yvor Nassief told the press that the time has come to challenge that cycle.
“With an uncompetitive product you have low demand and with low demand you have low occupancy, low profitability which comes right back to lack of investment in product. So one feeds on the other and is locked in the cycle,” Minister Nassief explained.
The Tourism Master Plan, prepared for the period 2005-2015 also stated that Dominica’s tourism strategy has been so far, primarily factor driven and suggests an investment driven approach for survival.
“In other words we focus on what we have on sites and that’s what we promote and that’s what we focus on. They are suggesting that rather than that approach, we focus on investment driven strategy. You have to break that cycle by bringing significant investment circling in a combination of other supporting infrastructure and services,” Nassief explained.
The CDB funded Master Plan was prepared by CHL Consulted Limited. The company’s representative, Dr Maria Bellot explained that business cannot continue in the usual pattern, to achieve ten percent growth per annum in the industry.
“When we speak of the tourism product, we are really referring to a balanced development of your attractions, your accommodations, facilities and your access. What has happened to Dominica over the past few years, we have paid a lot of attention to one aspect.
“What the Master Plan is saying is that we need to pay attention to all aspects in order to achieve the potential that Dominica has. It means we have to focus now on new investments to complement the natural attractions that we have. We must also widen and deepen for us to be competitive,” Dr Bellot said.
Dr Bellot explained that nature attractions alone do not make a tourist product, adding that there needs to be a quality and quantity of hotels to complement the natural attractions.
Minister Nassief agreed that the country needs to broaden its appeal to potential visitors.
“Our primary attractions remain what we are, and that does not mean that you cannot have a hotel with a golf course which will attract people who in turn will want to do a day of diving, do a day of hiking.
“I think where we are getting trouble is where we are creating artificial barriers where it’s either one or the other. In fact that’s not the case at all, and that’s what the Master plan says. Don’t narrow yourself to this, broaden and stay compatible with what your product is.”
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