(Lament of Tourism’s Allied Sector and Propositions for Better!)
By Kirk Elliott
I. LAMENT of the Allied Sector
Having seen the theme for the Saint Lucia Hotel & Tourism Association’s (SLHTA) upcoming annual general meeting — People, Passion, Purpose and Linkages; The Pathway to a Resilient Future — I couldn’t help but wonder if it might not be more aptly titled Of Linkages and Silos, as I ponder the lament of Saint Lucia’s non-accommodation or Allied Sector.
This Allied Sector is comprised of the ancillary offerings of tourism such as tour operators, craft vendors and other similar providers of local visitor experiences.
This AGM may be one of the most important in the SLHTA’s history as for the first time so many allied members are openly voicing their concerns.
Concerns do exist that all is not right in Saint Lucia’s tourism industry, when the allied sector finds itself restricted in its access to clients it has directly caused to visit the island, resulting in the concomitant impact of this restriction on our bottom line.
And it appears an open secret that this grievance is but the proverbial tip of a festering iceberg.
The pushback within some segments of the accommodation sector, and even from the government, is that the accommodation sector has invested heavily and must therefore get a return on its investment.
So, I got to thinking about this and invite you to join me on a thought exercise that takes this argument to its logical conclusion:
The traditional model of infrastructural investment in the Caribbean’s hospitality industry has seen resorts established under a system that grants them generous tax holidays. As a consequence of these arrangements, many resorts pay no corporate tax. However, they remit occupancy as well as food and beverage taxes to government to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. Additionally, they provide employment to a large sector of the population — both matters of great importance to government.
However, despite these millions flowing into government’s coffers, albeit directly from vacationers and not resorts, government continues to operate at a fiscal deficit.
Against this backdrop, some resorts contend that they are entitled to the non-accommodation related business by virtue of controlling accommodation; and further, insisting that this is their right since they are private legal entities.
Now, while this argument is generally rejected by the average allied member, let us for this discussion concede this position to the resorts that espouse it.
But in accepting their argument we MUST, of necessity, follow it to its two-fold logical conclusion that: resorts enjoy tax holidays and so pay no corporate taxes; and resorts own their properties, as a consequence of which they can determine who has access and for how long, inter alia
With this being the case, we must note that Saint Lucia’s infrastructure is built and maintained via taxes – which, incidentally, we as Saint Lucians are obligated by law to pay. So, by extension of resorts’ argument, we the owners of the island’s infrastructure could similarly choose to restrict said resorts from accessing our infrastructure by borrowing a page from their logic book.
This however begs the question as to what would then happen to the visitor as he or she could lose access to our roads en route to their resort — and My-Oh-My, what a slippery slope this becomes.
It is with much anticipation I look forward to the upcoming AGM, encouraged in the awakened voice of the allied sector as we ponder on the matter Of Linkages & Silos
PART II. A More Inclusive Model For Saint Lucia’s Tourism
While there’s no use crying over spilt milk, to not investigate why the milk spilt, nor determine how to mitigate against further spills is to invite more of the same and a recipe for disaster. With this truth established the Allied Sector of Saint Lucia’s tourism must as a collective identify solutions to the challenges we face as a matter of urgency. Towards this end I propose that the following be actioned immediately the new Saint Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association’s (SLHTA) executive is instated:
1. Create an Allied Sector Advocacy sub-Committee consisting of 3 – 5 allied members to champion change…
2. Establish a business facilitation desk at the SLHTA and/or the Ministry of Tourism to aid allied members in accessing concessions which currently exist but of which many are unaware…
3. Establish a system that promotes fresh new local vacation experiences on the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority’s website as for the longest while tour operators have complained that much of the island’s excursions have grown stale and uninspiring…
4. Restructure Tourism Investment Incentives to introduce a tier of concessions more applicable to local non-accommodation investors…
5. Restructure the current Tourism Incentives Act to incentivize foreign investors to buy local, do business with local firms, train their employees and engage in more aggressive corporate social responsibility activities…
Best of all – These are all “low hanging fruits” that can be achieved in 6 to 12 months.
Last year the Caribbean experienced one of it’s worst hurricane seasons ever. The reality of global warming and climate change points to challenging times ahead as we currently lack the resilience to withstand and weather these shocks. It is therefore vitally important that the Allied Sector drinks from the trough of abundance that is tourism as these local business MUST of necessity be a powerful economic cushion in times of disaster considering how little the accommodation sector ploughed back into ravaged islands compared to what they have extracted over the years.
And nowhere in this new order of business am I advocating a marginalization of the accommodation sector. On the contrary this will be a new dawn of cooperative endeavor. Truth is visitors today, whether enjoying the most expensive and luxurious accommodations or favouring AirBnB, are consistently calling for authentic local experiences. So just imagine the possibilities of this boldly new and unique Caribbean tourism experience that truly benefits all:
* Hotels, by virtue of the accommodations they offer and the linkages to local experiences they facilitate
* Local non-accommodation businesses offering authentic Saint Lucian experiences
* And Saint Lucia through the spin-off from this truly all inclusive model.
Trickle down economics was once a widely promoted developmental model that time has proven simply does not work. And why go looking for a trickle from a broken pipe when we can harness abundance directly from source?
The time to act is now as we have the people, who have the passion, but who need to act with a sense of purpose and one accord to build real linkages that will truly be the pathway to a resilient future.
Then rather than speak of increased tourist arrivals which is a truly meaningless metric, local tourism entrepreneurs will be able to speak of increased economic benefits. Now there’s a meaningful metric and one that will serve all of Saint Lucia well.
(*WHO IS KIRK ELLIOTT? Best Known for Photography, Kirk Elliott’s analytical thinking is borne of a Chemistry & Geology Bachelor of Science degree from the University of the West Indies, Mona Jamaica that taught him to take issues to their logical conclusion. Elliott has a deep interest in Tourism for Social and Economic Development in Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS) such as Saint Lucia in keeping with the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), of which Saint Lucia is a signatory – particularly SDG #1, #8 #10 & #13.)