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Seychelles receives honor of hosting FINA CNSG Open Water World Series 2019

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The excitement was palpable at Beau Vallon Beach on Saturday, April 13, 2019, almost a month before the Seychelles hosts for the second consecutive year the FINA CNSG Open Water World Series 2019.

This year’s event is being held in collaboration with Chinese based company CNSG and Seychelles is once again the second leg in the series of eight.

The organizing committee’s partners including the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB), officials and local swimmers gathered at Beau Vallon Beach where a trial run was organized to test out the facilities, the technical requirements and of course, the local swimming talents.

Principal Secretary for Sports, Fabien Palmyre present at the trial run mentioned his satisfaction to see that the FINA CNSG Open Water World Series 2019 is materializing with the support of all local partners.

“I am excited to again, be part of such an event. I am proud of all our young swimmers who have made an effort to be present today. I am grateful to all the partners and volunteers and I am definitely looking forward to this year’s event,” said PS Palmyre.

15 swimmers competed in the Beau Vallon waters in three main races, 2.5 km, 5 km and 7.5 km. According to the Seychelles Swimming Association (SSA) officials, the reasoning behind the distances selected is to enable the swimmers to test out their abilities to see which category would suit them best for the May 11, 2019 event, which will be opened for the public and other swimming enthusiasts.

The 2019 Mass Open Water event will take place on Saturday May 11, one day prior to the Elite event.

The May 11 Mass event will comprise of four distances, Group A (500 m), Group B (1 km), Group C (3 km) and Group D (5 km). The only age restriction will be for Group A where students aged 13 years and under can participate. The others will be open to all ages and there will be two races, a male and a female race for each distance.

“Mass participation is crucial in making the Mass event a success and the Seychelles Swimming Association is calling on all swimmers to register for the event,” said David Vidot, SSA Chairperson.

Mr. Vidot indicated that the forms for registration are available on the SSA Facebook page and website. The deadline to return the registration form to the Swimming Association is May 1, 2019.

The Seychelles is honored this year to have four Seychellois swimmers qualified to take part in the Elite 10 km race, which will take place on Sunday May 12, 2019.

Joining the 2018 swimmers, brothers Bertrand and Damien Payet, will be Matthew Bachmann and Alain Vidot, both of whom completed the 7.5 km race finishing second and third consecutively behind Damien who crossed the finishing line on Saturday first.

The Elite event which is broadcast to a global audience via the FINA network, exposes Seychelles in another light, similar to that of the annual Eco-Marathon event, which strengthens Seychelles’ potential as a Sports Tourism destination.

“It is such a privilege to be hosting the event again on our shores; as announced earlier this year, STB is committed to promote Seychelles as an ideal sports destination. Our collaboration with Seychelles Swimming Association and other partners for FINA CNSG Open Water World Series 2019 is an ideal platform for us to showcase our beautiful destination and its pristine waters,” said Mrs. Sherin Francis, Seychelles Tourism Board Chief Executive.

In May 2018, open water swimming made its debut in Seychelles, as the small island nation became the second host in the FINA World Cup Series 2018. The iconic Beau Vallon beach was the chosen venue to launch Seychelles in the open water swimming world, making it the first country in Africa to host an event of this caliber.

As part of the FINA mandate, the host country is required to host a mass event alongside the elite 10k m event, in order to encourage and mobilize the local community to appreciate and take part in the sport.

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India’s tea gardens beckon tourists

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India, one of the top tea producers in the world, is experimenting with tea tourism in view of the growing interest shown by tourists to visit tea plantations and tea factories. Ambling through a sprawling tea plantation with greenery all around in the early hours of the day watching a group of local women plucking two leaves and a bud at a fast pace with their nimble hands and collecting them into baskets slung on their shoulders is a winning sight for tourists. India now leads to give tea-buffs and tourists a closer understanding of tea by organizing tea tourism at places like Assam, Darjeeling (West Bengal), Nilgiris belt in Tamil Nadu, and a few pockets in Kerala and Karnataka.

Tea tourism is defined as tourism that is motivated by an interest in the history, culture, traditions and consumption of tea. Estate bungalows amidst sweeping acres of manicured tea plantations have now been converted into tourist accommodations. Not just staying in the midst of tea gardens, tea tourists  are taken to a tea factory, where they get to experience how the fresh green leaves are brought into the tea factory for withering to the rolling, drying and shifting stages, grading and packaging and followed by  a tea-tasting session where they could sip some of the finest tea that is grown in that area.

A view of Tea plucking in a tea garden of Assam

Assam in the lead for tea tourism

The first name that crops up in mind for tea tourism is Assam, the largest tea producing region in India.  The Assam Tea Tourism Festival held at Jorhat every year is a big hit with tourists. Staying in a rustic  colonial-era planter’s bungalow has its own charm. Home to more than 800 tea estates in the state,  where amidst luxury and serenity one can drift back in time to days of that elegant colonial aristocracy.  The B & A Limited operates through seven quality Tea Estates in the India’s largest tea growing region of Assam. The Guwahati Tea Action Centre, one of the busiest tea trading facilities in the world, is a place not to be missed. Others  include Corramore Tea Estate, Teloijan Tea Estate and Khongea Tea Estate besides a host of others.

Another major development which is currently in progress is the tourist-friendly makeover of  world’s oldest and biggest tea research center at Tocklai (Assam), with edifices  that each have a story to tell. A.K. Barooah, director of the Tea Research Association, said recently that the Tocklai Guest House, a heritage building, was home to  British tea planters A tea museum will be built with suitable dioramas, models and displays. He said Tocklai can tie-up with other tea tourism enterprises like Kaziranga Golf Resort (Bura Sahib bungalow), Banyan Grove and Thengal Manor bungalow in Jorhat district, the Mancotta chang bungalow and Chowkidingee chang bungalow situated in the heart of Dibrugarh town.”

West Bengal is also fast catching up with Assam in promoting tea tourism. Its Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee last month mentioned that her government will consider tea tourism to benefit tea plantations in the state.

She said, “We have allocated more than Rs. 1,000 crore for the welfare of tea garden workers since 2011. Tea tourism is also under our consideration.”

The WB state government permits one acre of tea estates to be used for tourism purposes. Currently there are 87 operational tea gardens in Darjeeling district covering an aggregated area of about 19,000 hectares under tea plantation. Darjeeling surrounded by tea orchards that produce the famous light-colored and aromatic Darjeeling Tea has the right ingredients for tea tourism. Makaibari Tea Estate and Homestay in Kurseong, 37 kms from Darjeeling, is one of the top tea producing gardens in the world. In the vicinity of  Darjeeling is the Happy valley Tea Estate, one of the highest tea gardens in the world. Raj-era estates located in some of the most scenic destinations in India — the rolling Himalayan foothills of Darjeeling and Dooars beckon tourists. Some famous estates include Glenburn Tea Estate, Sourenee Tea Estate, Singtom Tea Estate and Resort, Ambootia Tea Garden, Barnesbeg Tea Estate and  Castleton Tea Estate among others. Goodricke Group Ltd. is offering tourism opportunities in one of its tea estates in  Darjeeling where it has five gardens.

South India also catching up fast

Besides the Northeast belt, in south it is Tamil Nadu which is home to some of the largest tea-growing belts in the country. Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu is the largest tea producing district in South India, and its tea is  renowned for its aroma and flavor. With Tamil Nadu producing  65% of tea in South India spanning an area of 65,000 hectares, the Nilgiris area offers great scope for tea tourism. Valparai, a quaint hill station located about 100 km from Coimbatore, is teeming with tea plantations. Billimalai Tea Estate at Glendale, about 10 kilometers from Coonoor, is a perfect place to experience  how tea is processed.

Munnar in Kerala is rustic belle of hill stations where acres and acres of tea plantations feast one’s eyes. A visit to country’s first Tea Museum at Nallathanni Estate is highly recommended at it narrates the history of tea production in the region. The Kundala Tea Plantation in Munnar offers tourists the tea making process in great detail. Tea Sanctuary here is home to refurbished vintage colonial style bungalows amidst misty tea plantations. Considered the  highest altitude tea plantation in the world, Kolukkumalai, near Munnar, is known for  preserving the British heritage in tea-making at the factory here. Wayanad in Kalpatta district produces substantial amount of tea whose lush green tea gardens are a feast for the sore eyes. The Wayanad Tea County in the midst  of the picturesque  395 acre estate, many  vantage viewpoints, and trekking routes is a better option.

In Karnataka, Coorg, and  the Baba Budan Hills in Chickmagalur are tea-producing regions, but tea tourism is yet to catch here.

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Pope Francis appoints Tanzanian prelate to represent the Vatican in New Zealand

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Pope Francis has appointed the Tanzanian born prelate, Archbishop Novatus Rugambwa, as Apostolic Nuncio to New Zealand and Apostolic Delegate to the countries of the Pacific Ocean.

The Pontiff had appointed Archbishop Rugambwa a few days ago to represent the Holy See in New Zealand and the Pacific Ocean countries after serving Sao Tome and Principe, Angola, and Tagaria – all in Africa.

Ranking takes place among African nationals serving the Holy See in different capacities.

Archbishop Rugambwa was born in Western Tanzania in 1957 then ordained a priest in 1986 and Archbishop in 2010.

He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1991 and has served in Nunciatures in Panama, Republic of Congo, Pakistan, New Zealand, Indonesia, Angola, and Honduras.

For a period of time, he was also Under Secretary of the Holy See’s Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People.

Archbishop Rugambwa has diplomatic experience in Panama, the Republic of Congo, Pakistan, Indonesia and he previously served as secretary to the Apostolic Nuncio in Wellington, New Zealand. He holds a degree in Canon Law.

He replaces the previous nuncio Archbishop Martin Krebs who last year was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Uruguay.

President of the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference, Bishop Patrick Dunn, said: “We’re delighted with the appointment of Archbishop Rugambwa and warmly welcome him back to our shores in his new role. Our prayers are with him as he prepares for his move and we look forward to working with him in the years ahead.”

Archbishop Rugambwa entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in July 1991 and then served in the Pontifical diplomatic missions in Panama, Republic of Congo, Pakistan, New Zealand, and Indonesia.

He was named Sub-Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants in June 2007, then elected Titular Archbishop of Tagaria, and at the same time named Apostolic Nuncio to São Tomé and Príncipe in February 2010, the position he served before moving to New Zealand.

The Catholic Church has been among key partners in tourism, playing a pivotal role to attract visitors from other parts of the world to visit Africa in different missions.

The Church in collaboration with other churches are promoting and organizing pilgrimage trips to Holy places mostly in Israel, Spain, Rome, and North Africa.

Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran missionaries are counted the first travelers who entered Africa then opened routes to the modern tourist industry which African countries are working hard to develop.

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Official Hotel of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics coming with new agreement

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Shougang Group and Shangri-La Group has announced a cooperation on a new hotel project at Shougang Park in Beijing. This is a strategic venture to develop an international luxury hotel at the Shougang industrial site. The hotel will be designated as the Official Hotel of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and it will host the Olympic event reception.

The hotel project is located in the central area of Shougang Park and is closely connected to the grand ski ramp of the 2022 Winter Olympics and the training center of the National Teams, known as the “Four Ices,” for ice hockey, figure skating, speed skating and curling. It is scheduled for completion and operations at the end of 2021.

Shougang Group and Shangri-La Group Signing on Shougang Park Hotel Project Cooperation (left to right: Liang Jie, Deputy General Manager of Shougang Group; Wang Shizhong, Deputy General Manager of Shougang Group; Ke Yongguo, Deputy Chief of Shijingshan District Government; Guo Huaigang; Director of General Administration, The Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games; Zhang Gongyan, Chairman and General Manager of Shougang Group; Hui Kuok, Chairman of Shangri-La Group; Wang Yue, Deputy Chief of Beijing Culture & Tourism Bureau; Lim Beng Chee, Chief Executive Officer of Shangri-La Group; Paw Chuen Kee, Executive Vice President – Operations, North China.

Attending the signing ceremony were Zhang Gongyan, Chairman and General Manager of Shougang Group, Hui Kuok, Chairman of Shangri-La Group, Guo Huaigang, Director of General Administration, The Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games, Wang Yue, Deputy Chief of Beijing Culture & Tourism Bureau, and Ke Yongguo Deputy Head of Shijingshan District Government. The hotel management agreement was signed between Liang Jie, Deputy General Manager of Shougang Group and Lim Beng Chee, Chief Executive Officer of Shangri-La Group.

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Zanzibar sets for second, Grand Tourism Show in September

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After a successful and the first international tourism show held in Zanzibar last year, now the Indian Ocean Island is organizing a second premier exhibition that is scheduled to take place in September this year.

An organizing committee that will oversee the preparations of the second Zanzibar Tourism Show, scheduled to take place between September 26 and 28 this year has been formed.

Zanzibar Tourism Minister, Mahmoud Thabit Kombo said when launching the committee that the exhibition was expected to be bigger this year than the previous one held in October last year  and which had attracted over    4 000 visitors, 150 tourism companies and 100 international buyers from 17 countries.

He said that the organizing committee he had launched would ensure that the exhibition was successful. The committee would also be involved in advertising the exhibition both locally and internationally, to motivate tourists to visit the island, now the fast growing tourist destination in East Africa.

The show is part of the Zanzibar government’s strategy to promote tourism in Zanzibar, which is famous for beach and marine tourism.

The Zanzibar Tourism Show is the leading tourism business platform that showcases current tourism offers, first-hand expert knowledge from industry players and significant networking opportunity to all participants.

Zanzibar is aiming to increase the number of international tourists annually, from the current 376,000 to 500,000 by 2020, as tourism accounts for more than 80 percent of the Island’s foreign revenue collections.

The Island strides well in tourism sector after the government embarked on economic reforms and transformation, thus shifting from mono-crop economy to more diverse economies.

“The Zanzibar Tourism Show is part of promotional strategies in tourism sector initiated by the government of Zanzibar in collaboration with the private sector  to  promote  Zanzibar destination in its sustainable positioning in global market”, Mr. Kombo said.

He said that the contribution of tourism to economic well-being of the Island is immense. Zanzibar depends on the quality of services provided to international class tourists and the scale of promotion of its tourist products and services to global holidaymakers.

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Uganda travel and trafficking

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Sub-Saharan Africa has enormous tourism potential: leopards lounging in acacia trees, elephant herds drifting across vast savannah plains, gorillas and chimps rioting in deep forests, the earliest traces of human beings and their works. But according to the World Bank, the region receives a mere 3% of global tourism arrivals.

What scares tourists off may have something to do with an unfair, continent-wide reputation for lawlessness. There is a way around this. During the 1970s, entrepreneurs created the idea of eco-tourism as an alternative to the sun and sand package tours that wreaked havoc on the environment and local communities. Perhaps the eco-tourism concept could be expanded to encompass human rights more broadly, focusing not just on the ethical conduct of companies but on governments as well. Thus, travelers could be assured that their fees, taxes and entertainment dollars aren’t being used to support regimes engaged in grand corruption, human rights abuses, wildlife trafficking and the persecution of minorities.

Uganda’s new tourism push is a case in point. The government hopes to welcome four million visitors in 2020, more than double the current number. The Uganda Investment Authority is expediting bids from eco-tourism companies to develop ten sites in the nation’s national parks, including Queen Elizabeth, Masindi and Kidepo Valley. The World Bank has lent Uganda $25 million dollars to build a new hotel and tourism school, purchase equipment such as buses, game drive trucks, boats and binoculars and hire public relations firms to market Uganda in US, Europe, the Middle East and China. In October, Kanye West boosted the publicity effort by recording a music video in one of Uganda’s fine resorts and also visited Statehouse where he presented President Yoweri Museveni with a pair of his patented sneakers. Then in January, Tourism Minister Godfrey Kiwanda launched a beauty contest to identify Miss “Curvy” Uganda, whose zaftig figure will appear in tourism brochures.

The downside of Uganda’s tourism campaign is that every safari-goer it attracts will pay fees to government agencies such as the Uganda Wildlife Authority, which is currently engaged in a program of violent evictions that have left thousands of people in northern Uganda’s Acholi region destitute, and has also been implicated in trafficking in ivory, pangolin scales and other illegal wildlife products, both inside Uganda and in neighboring countries.

Since 2010, thousands of huts in Apaa, northern Uganda have been burned to the ground, and animals and belongings stolen by UWA officials and members of other security agencies. The government claims the area is gazetted for a game reserve, but residents say their families have lived in the area for generations and have nowhere else to go. Sixteen people have been killed and thousands, mainly women and children are now homeless. Some of the raids appear to have been carried out by members of the neighboring Madi ethnic group, and government officials have characterized them as ethnically motivated. However, the Madi and Acholi have lived in peace for generations and some suspect that senior government officials may be inciting the attackers.

Meanwhile, CITES, the international body that tracks endangered species has named Uganda as a global hub for the illegal wildlife trade. After damning reports about the scale of poaching in Kenya and Tanzania revealed that elephant populations were plummeting in both countries, stricter laws and better enforcement resulted in a nearly 80 percent decline in poaching in Kenya since 2013. Tougher enforcement has also resulted in steep declines in poaching in Tanzania. But between 2009 and 2016 an estimated 20 tons of ivory were trafficked via Uganda, along with over 3000 kilograms of pangolin scales.

The trade in wildlife products appears to be organized by senior officers of the army and UWA. Ivory traffickers working along the Uganda-Congo border told Belgian political scientist Kristof Titeca that much of their loot came from Congo and the Central African Republic, where the Ugandan Army, with US support, unsuccessfully tried to track down the notorious warlord Joseph Kony between 2012 and 2017. Thus, US taxpayers may have inadvertently facilitated Uganda’s wildlife crimes.

Uganda’s recently established Standards, Utilities and Wildlife Court, which is supposed to deal with trafficking crimes has begun prosecuting and convicting low level traffickers—the men who transport the goods to Kampala for export – but as yet there have been no prosecutions of those suspected of organizing the trade. When 1.35 metric tons of confiscated ivory disappeared from a Uganda Wildlife Authority storehouse in 2014, the director was suspended for two months and then reinstated. According to a 2017 Enough Project report, two senior Uganda Wildlife Authority officials quit the force in despair after apprehending traffickers and then being ordered by officials in President Yoweri Museveni’s office to drop the cases.

Uganda’s own elephants have largely been spared, and their numbers may even have increased in recent years. But other animals have not been so lucky. In 2014, the UWA granted a local company a license to collect thousands of pounds of scales from the shy, aardvark-like creatures known as pangolins. While officials claimed that the intention was to purchase the scales from people who’d collected them from animals who had died of natural causes, there’s little doubt that huge numbers of pangolins were killed as a result.

Unfortunately, the World Bank’s assistance to Uganda could be making things worse. It’s $25 million Tourism Sector Competitiveness and Labor Force Development loan, approved in 2013, is part of a larger $100 million Competitiveness and Enterprise Development Project which, according to project documents, allocates 21% – or $21 million, to government agencies, including the Uganda Wildlife Authority. World Bank spokespersons declined say how much of that will go to the UWA, and what the money will spent on, other than “systems strengthening and procuring tourism assets.”

Before the World Bank launches any project, it commissions an environmental impact assessment, as well as a review of safeguards to protect habitats and indigenous people who might be affected by it. In this case, the safeguards and Impact Assessment documents don’t consider the risk that Ugandan security agencies, including the army and UWA, might use funds raised from the project to engage in human rights abuses and trafficking.

This matters because countless development groups, including the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, the Red Cross and the World Bank itself– have seen millions of dollars in funding sink into Uganda’s swamp of corruption. Billions more have been siphoned out of the Treasury and the workers’ pension fund and or in inflated bids for infrastructure projects such as roads and dams.

In power for 33 years, Uganda’s leader Yoweri Museveni has hung on in part by spending funds looted from various development projects on voter bribery and harsh repression. In 2017, he sent Special Forces troops into Parliament to beat up MPs who were trying to block debate about a bill that would enable him to rule for life. One of the victims, MP Betty Nambooze, may never walk unaided again. Then in August, the same Special Forces arrested and tortured four other MPs and dozens of their supporters, including the famous pop star-politician Bobi Wine

Some of Museveni’s opposition-politician-victims, if allowed to govern, might – like the leaders of Tanzania and Kenya–do a better job of protecting Uganda’s people and its wildlife than he has. But as long as the World Bank and other donors keep allowing Museveni’s government to get away with corruption, human rights abuses and wildlife trafficking, these activities will only continue. While the World Bank continues to ignore this reality, Uganda’s prospective investors and tourists should steer their dollars towards less odious regimes.

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Reimagining tourism for the future

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In the last decade or so, tourism has positioned itself as a critical variable in the development planning space and the development discourse globally. Today businesses, governments, international organizations as well as NGOs have established, or are establishing programs, initiatives and programs to facilitate tourism for development. Academic institutions have also been introducing, organizing or reorganizing ‘tourism’ as an important element of their curriculum. The University of the West Indies is no exception. Through its many courses, centers and institutes, the UWI has been preparing our Caribbean nationals for the expanding opportunities and benefits being presented by the growth of the tourism sector. But we have much more to do.

Tourism and Development

According to the UNTWO, WTTC, CTO, PATA and several other regional and global institutions, tourism has been recognized as that force, which accelerates human development, social and economic inclusiveness, increased entrepreneurship and self-employment, the generation of decent work, environmental sustainability and also support regional integration.

Indeed, the contribution of tourism to both national and regional development continues to be enormous and I dare say unmatched. Firstly, tourism is linked to the notion of a sustainable economy in several ways. The economic indicators show that Caribbean is the most-tourism dependent in the world, tourism is the main economic sector in 16 out of 28 Caribbean states and the total contribution of tourism to employment in the Caribbean is estimated at 2.4 million jobs according to the World Travel and Tourism Annual Report for 2018. In Jamaica tourism employs one in every four persons.

Beyond direct employment tourism and hospitality there are vast indirect opportunities for supplying inputs to tourism enterprises catering to the visitor experience in areas such as accommodations, food and beverage, cultural and creative arts, entertainment and recreation, agriculture, manufacturing, banking and finance and foreign exchange.

Tourism is also linked to the preservation of heritage and culture through the concept of experiential tourism. Most tourists travel to have authentic experiences that require that they partake in activities and consume and acquire products/goods that are indigenous to the countries they travel. Tourism thus helps to preserve natural and cultural resources while generating revenues and incomes for local populations.

To unlock the potential of tourism to contribute to inclusive growth and development our main focus at the Ministry of Tourism is to find innovate ways to reduce economic leakage in the tourism sector and to improve retention. This mandate is already being executed through our Linkages Network which has been coordinating policies and strategies designed to strengthen linkages with other sectors of the economy particularly the agricultural and manufacturing sector, strengthen the benefits derived from the industry by local residents and communities and promote broader participation by nationals.

We however recognize that the competitiveness 0f the Caribbean destinations will significantly rely on how well we prepare our people for the emerging opportunities. If Caribbean destinations are to remain globally-competitive and increase their share of the global tourist market, we must find ways to unlock new sources of competitiveness and comparative advantage.

Traditionally the tourism sector has enjoyed one of the highest rates of labor mobility of any segment of the economy. However, many of the opportunities taken up by our citizens are those that require low skill and offer limited prospect for economic mobility. This fact is largely attributable to the fact that the majority of the tourism-related jobs are deemed to require low to medium-level technical skills. The global tourism market is however becoming increasingly differentiated and segmented. Consequently, the continued growth of Travel & Tourism in the region will depend on the right people with the right skills being available to meet this demand for additional human capital. And we at the MOT have been working to create a paradigm shift in the local tourism space which will see our citizens accessing more substantive jobs and I will discuss this some more in a minute.

Many trends are impacting the skills needed to perform competently in tourism-related jobs such as digitalization and virtualization, the need for sustainable behaviors & practices, the growth of non-traditional segments, the changing demographics of international travelers (more youthful, more specific), changing lifestyles and consumer demands and the need for data-driven policies. Technology has had a significant impact on tourism-related employment as well as supporting and changing how services are delivered. While technology has downgraded certain skills in the tourism sector it has upgraded other skills, particularly in the areas of marketing, information and communication. Caribbean destinations must recognize the differing preferences of a new generation of younger travelers and the growing importance of online services and marketing, especially through mobile internet. The future of tourism lies in the manipulation and exploitation of ICT capabilities such as big data, big data analytics, machine learning, blockchain technologies, the Internet of Things, robotics etc. We thus need to urgently capitalize on the opportunities for high-skilled employment that are being generated in the ICT-related fields in tourism.

The growth of non-traditional markets in Europe, Asia and Central America will require increased focus on cultural studies and the development of competencies in various foreign languages. The increased focus on data-driven policies to better understand the emerging needs of markets, to analyze trends and to predict future patterns means that tourism development strategy must increasingly emphasize research-based skills. The evolving tourism market will require modern managerial skills that can drive performance improvements in the sector by raising productivity through better staff planning and scheduling, employing new technology and improving employee motivation, thereby reducing staff turnover. Most importantly , we must equip our citizens with the competitive business management and marketing skills that are required to operate successful tourism enterprises in this globalized era.

In the current dispensation, the hospitality sector has to contend with negative perceptions of low wages and the lack of career opportunities beyond entry-level jobs. Studies have found that many university students have a peripheral view of tourism. There is oftentimes scarce information and misconceptions about the skills required as well as the opportunities for career development. National governments must take a lead in developing a long-term workforce development strategy. Ideally, such a strategy would be developed within the broader context of improving the industry’s competitiveness and sustainability, since the increasing demand for skilled labor will continue to present a major challenge in all countries. It is highly recommended that strategies and their implementation should be carried out with the private and education sectors and embrace agreed-upon commitments from the industry.

A robust institutional framework is needed to determine the education and training policies and programs that will support a more attractive labor market and business environment in tourism which will allow the industry to maintain a sufficient and highly-qualified workforce and hence support the enhancement of productivity in the industry. My view is that while formal qualifications are not always required in tourism, their existence, and a widely available opportunity to obtain qualifications and competency development in tourism may contribute to raising the prestige of the occupation and the sector in general.

A study by the WTTC revealed that Travel & Tourism’s human capital challenges are significantly higher than those faced in other sectors with most countries in study projecting to face a talent ‘deficit’ or ‘shortage’ in Travel & Tourism over the next ten years. Talent development will also prevent many high-skilled positions from being filled by migrant workers. Both public and private sector are thus encouraged to act now to address the anticipated talent shortage.

Given the robust nature of UWI’s tourism portfolio which was recently expanded with the recent launch of the region’s first Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre, here at UWI, changes in the tourism space, new instruction technologies, the ever diversifying nature of tourism, it is time for the UWI to reimagine its tourism portfolio and consolidate its programs, courses, institutes, centers, etc. under one roof here in one of the Caribbean’s mecca of tourism (Montego Bay) with the establishment of a school or a faculty of Tourism.

Indeed, UWIs global recognition as a powerful intellectual institution will position the UWI to make an even more substantive contribution to the development of the region through such a Faculty or School. Certainly, this effort would have my support, and, although I cannot speak for my Caribbean counterparts, I am more than certain it would also have the support of the government of the region. More specifically, in keeping with the mandate of the administration that I am apart of, I reiterate my commitment to promoting a sustainable tourism product that advances the well-being of local communities and that incorporates more local talent in the delivery of tourism services.

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