The aspect of enslavement of one by another has never stopped in the islands. And no area is more glaring than in the Tourism industry.
Let me start by saying that between the state, prospective tourism investors, and selective middle class business persons, they have manipualted this industry to a tee.
Firstly, let me start by defining tourism as the influx of visitors to our island, be it by land or sea, that every person who sets foot on island whether for a day or longer, has to pay some sort or disembarking tax for such a privilege that benefits the government. So, regardless of how you enter, the state starts the ball rolling by charging a disembarking fee as soon as you touch land.
The second part of that equation is that almost no resort owner pays taxes for establishing a hotel on the island. This happens because the state does not have the capacity to keep the masses employed on a full-time basis all year round, and they depend on resort owners to do that on their behalf.
In exchange, the resort requests certain concessions during and after construction with the promise to pay taxes later after a set period, but over the years have found a way to beat the system by changing ownership or management at the time when operational taxes are due.
This practice has been going on for years, and the legal and business sector, accommodated by government agencies, ensure that this practice continues, to ensure that employees are kept employed year-round.
So, everyone within the setup ensures that they get all the necessary operational incentives to operate to their benefit.
Then there is the manipulated aspect of providing activities that would be of interest to all visitors. So, most of the state-owned sites such as the Sulphur Springs, some private enterprise such as The Diamond Waterfall, botanical gardens and eating outlet is put in the mix, so both parties will benefit.
Then there is the concept of resorts that are classified as all inclusive, designed with a concept of their guests staying within their doors and all is provided because to dine or explore the island independently could be considered dangerous. So this is a system of maximizing profits from within.
The process continues with what is called selective activities such as land or see tours are suggested as a form of actively again profiting a selective few as well as the state continue to benefit from more disembarking fees for use of jetties or related spaces.
Then the selective tour operators create activities like whale and dolphin watching, scuba diving or snorkelling, deep sea fishing, golf, etc. And all these activities yield large profits for the selective few privileged operators that are usually financed by the financial sector to ensure that they rake in as much as possible, so it is not uncommon or unusual to find one business owner owning several units and outlet all in the name of tourism growth and expansion within the industry.
In the mix is the payment of minimal wages to staff to enable them to meet the visitors needs.
Little is thought about how the ordinary man and woman gain profit from the industry. So the concept is the small man operates at the low end as venders bus or taxi drivers, small boat owners, tour guides or craftsmen or basic hustlers, so, by such means it is always the selective few that profits big time, while the exploration continues at the bottom end.
The use of island product, be it snacks, local manufactured goods or souvenirs items, are never in the mix, as they sell what they have at top dollars and promote means of entertainment in whatsoever way they can and hoping that the staff will be contented with the tips and salary offered because they do not have many other choices: you either work for them, or Invest independently if you need to sustain a livelihood within the so-called tourism industry.
Getting the necessary finances can be an uphill battle as a small man, so tell me who are the beneficial persons in tourism and who continue to get exploited on a daily basis and if that is that not defined as modern day slavery.