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Rethinking Tourism 

World Tourism Day 2022 MessageHarold LovellPolitical Leader of the United Progressive Party

Tourism is the heartbeat of our economy and as we celebrate World Tourism Day 2022, we must focus on getting people back to full employment and ensure that tourism businesses of all sizes and across all sectors, can recover and realize their full potential.

This year’s theme “Rethinking Tourism” calls on all of us — citizens and residents, hospitality workers, large organizations, micro, small and medium enterprises and government officials — who serve the tourism industry, to rethink how the industry can better serve us.

As one of the Caribbean’s premier destinations, we must reimagine how to better manage, market and measure our tourism industry. This will require a visionary Tourism Masterplan that prioritizes infrastructural upgrades, public education, financing for tourism businesses, linkages to other sectors of the economy and social protection for tourism workers. It is also time to increase digitalization throughout the tourism workforce to upskill the sector and increase our competitive edge as a destination.

COVID-19 has caused a major disruption in the tourism industry worldwide, revealing many possibilities for tourism development, diversification of our national economy and the creation of jobs and new visitor experiences.

Antigua and Barbuda must develop a solid plan for resiliency that will allow us to act and not merely react. As part of our long term plan for tourism, the UPP will:

– Create a financial climate that will attract reputable foreign, local and Diaspora investments.

– Accelerate the completion and refurbishment of tourism projects and infrastructural upgrades.

– Activate policies that will generate growth in the tourism sector, by strengthening niches such as health and wellness and community tourism to attract a new client mix.

– Oversee the implementation and of a sustainable national tourism strategy, that will leverage our unique selling points like our culture to meet our economic and social needs.

By “Rethinking Tourism” we will fuel the industry with innovative strategies to better manage our resources and strengthen our brand in all sectors — accommodations, aviation, cruise, yachting, attractions, food and beverage, transportation and entertainment.

Antiguans and Barbudans, let us all come together to pool our ideas, resources and talents to make our tourism product the best brand in Caribbean tourism. When residents value the benefits that our tourism industry provides to their families and communities, it makes it easier for guests to appreciate the unique tourism experiences that we have to offer as a destination.

Happy World Tourism Day to those who invest in, work, or contribute directly or indirectly to our tourism industry. Let us protect the industry that serves as a vital part of our economy and livelihood.

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Amcham CEO Nirad Tewarie

The American Chamber of Commerce of Trinidad and Tobago (Amcham), in its response to the 2023 budget, said the budgeted gas price is reasonable in the current climate.

It said the Finance Minister clearly tried to balance several considerations.

Amcham welcomed several of the announced initiatives, including the reduction in tax rates designed to stimulate upstream oil and gas production, the reduction in taxes for financial technology companies, and the financial service hub.

“We are pleased that the Government would be implementing feed-in tariffs and is moving towards implementing a renewable energy policy – we believe this would not only reduce demands for the scarce natural gas to generate electricity, but the renewable energy policy would assist us in reaching our Paris agreement targets.

“We would like to hear concrete timelines for these during the budget debate.”

It said it looked forward to the operationalisation of the special economic zone legislation and the rollout of the developers’ hub, and applauded the effort to develop software as a service for the government sector.

“This software also has the potential to be exported and the hub could incubate smaller technology companies.

“The identification of specific initiatives to support the transition to a cashless society and to remove the friction of transacting business with the government are also likely to have a positive impact.”

Amcham said it was also anxious to see the results of restructuring operations in the water and sewerage sector.

It said apprenticeships and vocational training as well as support for remediation in early high school life of students as young people are prepared for the new economy are important, and it supported these measures.

It welcomed the announcement that the National Statistical Institute legislation would be brought to Parliament and encouraged bipartisan collaboration, as accurate and timely data is necessary for effective planning for national development.

The organisation was disappointed at the lack of broad transformative initiatives, as it expected the minister to report on the outcomes of previous announcements and give clearer timelines for implementing new and repeated announcements, such as the data interoperability framework, open-data implementation and unique national identifier.

“The outlook for increased production in the energy sector in the short term is still uncertain. The stabilisation of the economy remains precarious. Cross-cutting measures to improve the ease of doing business require further articulation.

“In particular, we are disappointed that there was no emphasis on customs reform and digitisation of the trade facilitation process.”

Amcham said it stood ready to collaborate with all stakeholders on matters of national development.

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…must encourage women, youth into workforce

President Dr Irfaan Ali has said that systemic changes are necessary if Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean Region are going to be food secure.

He told a Science Summit of the United Nations General Assembly via Zoom on Monday that for far too long, there has been a passive approach to food security, which has amplified the problem at the regional level.

The Head of State, who was the keynote speaker at the food security forum, proposed an overhaul of the regional agriculture system to not only make it less laborious but to encourage women and youth into the workforce.

President Dr Irfaan Ali

Enhanced technological use, he pointed out, would be imperative to develop the new system.

“How do we ensure that more women are leading farms, using science and technology as aids? We cannot build an agricultural system or a production system that does not have the future in mind. What we have now is a lot of young people not going into agriculture.  The question is, why? Because we still promote agriculture in the traditional way,” the President is quoted as saying at the Summit.

To change the system, President Ali said that Governments need to make larger investments, remove the red tape hampering the flow, use individual strengths for the collective good and enhance private sector partnerships.

“If the Caribbean believes that we can do this singularly, we’re fooling ourselves. This requires partnership and a willingness of all stakeholders to work in a cohesive manner, utilising each other’s competitive advantage and pushing each other’s competitive advantage to the benefit of the Region. That is what we’re doing.”

Country-to-country partnerships

The President also spoke of the land available in Guyana and Suriname, the technological know-how of Roraima, Brazil, and the unique advantages of several Caribbean islands. Overall, he explained that the Region should be investing at least 7.5 per cent of their national budgets in agriculture and food production in the short term for there to be a possibility of achieving a 25 per cent reduction in food importation by 2025.

He also highlighted general cooperation and country-to-country partnerships, especially between Guyana and Barbados.

The urgency in food security, the President stated, is not only a Caricom concern but a global issue.  Reference was made to the hindering factors, including the pandemic, which has skyrocketed the global food import bill to its staggering US$1.8 trillion projection.

He said that as of June 2022, the number of acute food insecure persons has increased to 345 million in 82 countries and out of that amount, some 2.8 million, or nearly 40 per cent of the population in the English-speaking Caribbean, are food insecure.

He emphasised that at all levels, there needs to be short and long-term responses to boost food production and nutrition, improve food security, reduce risk and strengthen the food systems.

“The global, regional, and national food systems must become more responsive to the needs of the population. The system has to be responsive to the needs of the population to give them healthy and affordable diets, inclusive of food sustainable sustenance and enforce good livelihood for all, especially small economies.”

The President said that food security was the main issue at the UN General Assembly this year, which demonstrated its urgency.

“Did we actually realise what took place in the UN? For the first time, the macro issues for food security, climate change, and everything else fell under the umbrella of food security. Every single address at the UN, every single side event had the issue of food security.”

With the spotlight on food security, President Ali said that it is now time for Small Island Developing States and Low-Lying Coastal Countries to push funding agencies and to work with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the UN to become food secure.

“If we can’t do it now, then we will be in serious problems in the long term.”

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El alcalde de Hormigueros, Pedro García Figueroa, resaltó que el 90 por ciento de su ciudadanía cuenta con agua debido a lo que describió como una comunicación efectiva efectiva con la Autoridad de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (AAA), aunque señaló que la falta de diésel amenaza el progreso, al nivel de tener que apagar los generadores que mantienen funcionando las bombas de la Autoridad.

“Estos generadores se colocan en estos sistemas pero hay que darles mantenimiento cada cierta cantidad de horas porque está prendío 24 horas. Luego, hay que echarles diésel. La entrega de diésel al municipio y Acueductos, pues, ha disminuido, así que hemos tenido que, en ocasiones, apagar el generador […] El gobernador del país tiene que empujar”, indicó el alcalde para describir una situación que mantiene en crisis al municipio.

Más temprano, el general José Reyes, de la Guardia Nacional, explicó que dentro de su misión no está asignada la entrega del combustible para las bombas de la AAA, debido a que se necesita una capacidad superior para los tanques.

Nota relacionada: Guardia Nacional no ha entregado diésel a supermercados porque no es parte de su misión asignada

Asimismo, reiteró, una vez más, que la luz en los campos tardará hasta tres meses en regresar debido a que tienen más de 80 transformadores, entre otros elementos, en el piso. Detalló que aunque LUMA Energy está trabajando para energizar el casco urbano, se ha dejado de lado a la zona rural. Ante esto, informó que ya coordinaron brigadas municipales para asistir a la privatizadora abriendo caminos.

No obstante, señaló que “tienen que mantener esa comunicación efectiva con los municipios […] La comunicación de LUMA con los alcaldes, directo con los alcaldes, no existe. Es una comunicación donde nos ponen un interlocutor” que no le satisface tanto como el ejercicio que llevan con la AAA, que comunica a los directores regionales con los ejecutivos municipales.

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Le gouvernement a présenté le projet de loi de finances 2023, lors du conseil des ministres qui s’est tenu lundi matin. Le total des crédits budgétaires, hors charge et amortissement de la dette d’État, s’élève à 450,3 milliards d’euros contre 437,6 en 2022.

France-Antilles Martinique

1044 mots – 27.09.2022

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