Byron Blake | Fifty years on: has the Caribbean tourism advanced?

This year ends with rumblings of discontent in the booming tourism industry in Jamaica and possibly the Caribbean. The rumblings are from workers who feel disrespected, exploited, and underpaid in a foreign-dominated and managed industry.

There are also rumblings from those concerned about the natural environment and long-term sustainability. Rumblings in the face of glowing statements by the Minister of Tourism and other officials of record-breaking arrivals, foreign exchange earnings and rooms opening.

The situation brings me back to the early 1970’s. 1974, specifically May 1974 stands out in my mind as a signal date in discussions on tourism in the Caribbean. The Caribbean Travel Association (CTA), then headquartered in New York, had organised its annual high-level meeting in Aruba. It was a vital Conference.

The challenge was the looming confrontation between the large scheduled Airlines like American Airlines, Pan American Airlines, and Eastern Airlines and the emerging ‘one-stop’ charter carriers. The issue was that these new Charter Carriers, with little overhead expenses, could take full payloads of passengers directly from any Airport in the United States to any Airport in the Caribbean at times, and at fares determined by them while the “scheduled” carriers were constrained to operate on predetermined routes and schedules at fares negotiated by the pair of Governments, for predetermined periods. The scheduled carriers considered the competition to be unfair.

It was an American problem positioned to dominate a conference on tourism in the Caribbean. The lobbying was intense from the hour of arrival at the hotels.

Attendance was large, possibly just short of 500, with the overwhelming majority being white American men.

The keynote Speaker for the opening session was Democratic Congressman, Dante Fascell of Florida. But the marquis session that would confront directly the issue at hand was a roundtable on the second morning with (i) a judge from the Civil Aviation Board (CAB) of Florida, (ii) presidents of two of the scheduled carriers, (iii) presidents of two of the non-Scheduled Carriers, (iv) one hotelier each from The Bahamas, Jamaica and St Kitts/Nevis (v) a representative from the CARICOM Secretariat, and (vi) a representative from the Cayman Islands, as chairman.

RADICALLY DIFFERENT APPROACH

The session opened with the judge followed by the four presidents. Then came the turn of the Caribbean representatives. I opted to speak last. I took a radically different approach to the preceding eight presenters. I positioned the conference in the Caribbean and raised the question of how the industry could contribute to the economic and social development of the Caribbean. I explained opportunities for linkages between the tourism industry and local sectors including agriculture (food), light manufacturing (the jams, jellies, honey, beds, sheets, etc.), and skilled services. At the end of my presentation, there was pandemonium. Multitudes of white men were on their feet attacking me at the top of their voices.

The chairman, an American in the Cayman Islands, would neither protect nor allow me to respond. Then came a question from a representative from Bonaire, for the chairman to allow Blake to answer the very naïve question asked about four questions earlier. The Question “What can the tourism industry buy from the Caribbean? That question allowed me to highlight the various items in the “room service” breakfast I had that morning as I prepared my presentation; the precise place in the United States from whence they came as per the labels on the small packages; and the island in the Caribbean where each could be had. The discussions persisted in that antagonistic manner to the end of the session. There was no reference to the air services. The next morning the small packages were replaced by bowls with no labels.

We chose the lack of linkage issue, but there were even more urgent matters that could demonstrate the lack of concern for Caribbean development. Prime here was the May 1973 oil price shock by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The four-fold movement in crude oil prices from US$2.50 to US$10 had sent the travel industry, among others, into a tailspin globally.

By May 1974 small companies like the British company, Courtline, which owned Leeward Islands Air Transport (LIAT) and two hotels in Saint Lucia had been forced into bankruptcy. It was clear that the main long-haul aircraft, the Boeing 707, being used by the major carriers to service the tourist industry in the Region from North America and Europe was too fuel-inefficient to be viable. Companies would soon reduce service, or abandon routes and some, like PanAm and Eastern, would enter into bankruptcy. Thinking had begun to emerge about larger, wide-bodied aircraft which could take larger payloads, and fly longer distances but they would require longer and stronger runways, pre-empting operation to certain countries. Yet, these were not matters for discussion at the Caribbean conference on tourism. The reality was that the Caribbean policymakers who attended the Conference even at the levels of premiers and ministers had little say in the agenda-setting or even in the discussions. These were externally driven.

FUNDAMENTAL CHANGES

For a variety of reasons, the Caribbean tourism industry underwent fundamental changes in the 1970s and 1980s. Among the changes:

1. The Caribbean Tourism Research Centre (CTRC), conceptualised and established by Caribbean thinkers including the Caribbean Council of Churches in 1973, became the Caribbean Tourism Research and Development Centre and then the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) when it absorbed the Caribbean Travel Association (CTA) and brought the marketing arm from New York to the region. Agenda-setting and decision-making were now in the region.

2. Several foreign-owned hotels were divested, regional chains emerged or expanded, and a distinct Caribbean or Jamaican brand with promotion to Caribbean nationals especially in the summer became dominant features.

3. Jamaica reached a stage where one north coast hotel property displayed signs “ladies and gentlemen, serving ladies and gentlemen”. The demeanour, approach, and confidence of the various categories of workers showed that they were holding their side of the equation. There were no tips.

4. Some time in the 1990s a new thrust began, especially by Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Jamaica, to attract foreign investment in the sector. Spanish and Mexican investors with their traditional and linguistic connections to Cuba and the Dominican Republic responded positively. The incentives and conditions offered by successive Jamaican administrations have been well-kept secrets. Announcements of record numbers of rooms to be built, rooms built, arrivals at Airports, and “foreign exchange” contribution have become the mantra of tourism ministers and ministry officials. Sangster International Airport and later, Norman Manley International Airport were contracted to Mexican Management.

5. Jamaican hotel management for which the Cuban authorities were prepared to trade their Law 50 (the law requiring 50 per cent local participation in a foreign project) to set the standard was gradually substituted by “Spanish Hotel Management”. The implications of that shift for labour, recruitment, and labour relations in a country recognised for strong labour laws and trade union representation are now coming to the fore one hotel at a time. Each ‘successful’ ad hoc settlement encourages the next protest. The system risks crumbling.

The similarities with the 1970s are clear. There is deep resentment of foreign, white foreign, control. The history of slavery and colonialism is deeply ingrained. The spark has now been lit. There is need for systemic change. If the authorities do not recognise and make the necessary changes, pressure from people in the industry will.

Ambassador Byron Blake is former deputy permanent representative of Jamaica to the United Nations and former assistant secretary general of CARICOM. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com