{"id":6092,"date":"2020-05-26T19:25:14","date_gmt":"2020-05-26T23:25:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/?p=6092"},"modified":"2020-05-26T19:25:14","modified_gmt":"2020-05-26T23:25:14","slug":"strategic-planning-will-save-caribbean-tourism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/2020\/05\/26\/strategic-planning-will-save-caribbean-tourism\/","title":{"rendered":"Strategic Planning \u2018Will Save Caribbean Tourism\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(Barbados Today)<\/strong>-Caribbean tourism will survive, and indeed thrive, in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, an international tourism consultant has predicted \u2013 if countries heed a call for strategic planning by all the relevant authorities in the region.<\/p>\n

Speaking on the Caribbean Tourism Organisation\u2019s weekly podcast on tourism and COVID-19, US- based consultant Dr Peter Tarlow said the Caribbean already had several issues on its plate before the pandemic.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cThe Caribbean has been having issues with high prices, poor customer service and crime, so these issues combined with a health crisis creates a major crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the other hand, the world crisis has two parts to it, danger and opportunities. We can use this as a period for the Caribbean to come back better and stronger than ever before, so we can either fall apart, or make our tourism a major leader in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr Tarlow said during the current \u201cpause\u201d in the tourism sector that Caribbean leaders should take the opportunity to \u201cthink through\u201d national and regional plans for the next five to ten years.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cI have been working with Jamaica\u2019s Ministry of Tourism as an adviser on tourism improvements. We have just completed a security audit and it will soon go public, understanding what is good and bad about major hotels in the region. I also wrote an ethics manual as security without ethics is meaningless.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe have to educate the public about tourism, to remind them that every person in the Caribbean represents tourism.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, if I ask for directions and someone smiles and pleasantly shows me where to go, that is a positive experience; if it is the opposite, then that does not paint a very good picture of the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to have short, medium and long term plans, divided into things that will cost money and things that are cheaper or free.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to see tourism ministers and other senior leaders come together and look at what we have and areas in which we can create employment. Do we have a way of filling hotels so they don\u2019t go under?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to meet people at our ports of entry and let them know where doctors are, what languages we work in, and we need an advertising campaign to encourage people to come back \u2013 maybe not this week, but we are seeing some positive developments in our major source markets as they gradually reopen.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should be working on podcasts, broadcasts and videos to inform the public, making sure the cities are clean, using beautification, so people will see a reflowering and renaissance of Caribbean tourism when they return.\u201d<\/p>\n

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He outlined some of the health and safety protocols visitors will want to see once they make their way back to the Caribbean.<\/p>\n

Dr Barlow said: \u201cLet\u2019s get the Caribbean in the best shape possible so when this crisis ends, we can promote ourselves to the two major markets, namely the United States and Europe.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet us create a national programme for when the next crisis hits. The Caribbean Tourism Organisation needs to bring all players together, I am thinking short, medium and long term.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should have a \u201cCome back, you know you love it\u201d programme, as people will be itching to travel when this is over.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should consider special discounts and other incentives, and ensure the health care system and the quality of infrastructure will be able to deal with issues of this nature.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre we letting people know we are sanitising every day? That there are special shopping hours for people over 65? Do we have enough lifeguards? Are we making sure raw sewage isn\u2019t going into the ocean? This is what we should be doing, so that when they return, people will say the Caribbean was good but now it is better than ever<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Barbados Today)-Caribbean tourism will survive, and indeed thrive, in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, an international tourism consultant has predicted \u2013 if countries heed a call for strategic planning by all the relevant authorities […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6092","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-regional-news"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Untitled-1-15-960x600-1.jpg?fit=960%2C600&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Untitled-1-15-960x600-1.jpg?fit=960%2C600&ssl=1",960,600,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Untitled-1-15-960x600-1.jpg",960,600,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Untitled-1-15-960x600-1.jpg",960,600,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Untitled-1-15-960x600-1.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Untitled-1-15-960x600-1.jpg?fit=300%2C188&ssl=1",300,188,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Untitled-1-15-960x600-1.jpg?fit=960%2C600&ssl=1",960,600,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Untitled-1-15-960x600-1.jpg?fit=960%2C600&ssl=1",960,600,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Untitled-1-15-960x600-1.jpg?fit=960%2C600&ssl=1",960,600,true],"mh-magazine-slider":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Untitled-1-15-960x600-1.jpg?resize=960%2C438&ssl=1",960,438,true],"mh-magazine-content":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Untitled-1-15-960x600-1.jpg?resize=678%2C381&ssl=1",678,381,true],"mh-magazine-large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Untitled-1-15-960x600-1.jpg?resize=678%2C509&ssl=1",678,509,true],"mh-magazine-medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Untitled-1-15-960x600-1.jpg?resize=326%2C245&ssl=1",326,245,true],"mh-magazine-small":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Untitled-1-15-960x600-1.jpg?resize=80%2C60&ssl=1",80,60,true]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"adminrfm","author_link":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/author\/adminrfm\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Regional News<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"(Barbados Today)-Caribbean tourism will survive, and indeed thrive, in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, an international tourism consultant has predicted \u2013 if countries heed a call for strategic planning by all the relevant authorities [...]","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6092"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6092\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6094,"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6092\/revisions\/6094"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}