Caribbean Tourismand The Media
The media has a pivotal role to play increating a better awareness and understanding of the importanceof tourism to the people of the Caribbean.
This is the view of the President of theCaribbean Hotel Association (CHA) Ralph Taylor. He believes thatthe players in regional tourism need to embrace the media in amore meaningful way.
Speaking on the eve of the Caribbean HotelIndustry Conference (CHIC) 2002, to be held June 16-19, 2002 inPuerto Rico, Taylor says, the Caribbean Media Exchange on SustainableTourism (CMEX) initiative piloted by Air Jamaica, CounterpartInternational, CHA, CAST (CHA's environmental arm), CaribbeanBroadcasting Union, and "Life Needs the Caribbean,"is a step in the right direction. The program brings togethermedia professionals and tourism experts to exchange ideas on sustainabletourism issues.
The 2nd CMEX conference was held in Nassau,Bahamas last month and attracted more than 80 delegates for discussionson the need for the media to scrutinize the economics of the tourismindustry on which the Caribbean economies depend so much, amongother topics.
The CHA head says that already the CMEXinitiative is paying dividends reflected by an increase in thenumber and quality of tourism articles appearing in the media.He says through this initiative, the organizations of the CMEXTeam hope to influence the influencers of public opinion and attitudesin the region.
Ultimately says Taylor; our end objectiveis to foster positive attitudes to tourism as a career optionfor the region's brightest and its best, as well as to engenderamong Caribbean people, the desire to exceed the expectation visitors.
A persistent theme of the recent CMEX conferencewas the importance of considering the carious stakeholders intourism, not just the customers, but also the staff and the localcommunity who all have to benefit from the experience in orderto maintain a sustainable industry.
CHA President-elect Simon Suárez,is of the view that the Caribbean media should not only play aninstrumental role in educating the masses of the region abouttourism trends and visitor needs, but should also expose peoplein the various communities to the opportunities for forging greatereconomic linkages with the industry that would pay greater employmentdividends.
Suárez commended the recent initiativeof a group of concerned journalists attending the annual CaribbeanHotel Association's Marketplace who decided it was time the Caribbeanmedia came together and used its profession to help get tourismin the region back on its feet. As a result, the Caribbean MediaOrganization for Sustainable Tourism (CMOST) was born with themission of supporting the sustainability of tourism in the Caribbeanthrough the exchange of information, and facilitating the developmentand training of regional journalists in tourism and tourism relatedareas. Suárez says CHA is honored to have served as a catalystfor the creation of CMOST.