There are limitless opportunities that present themselves for profitable investment. Three experts in tourism promotion laid out a slate of new ideas that could be adopted at a recent Tourism Opportunities Visionary Symposium hosted by the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) at the Half Moon Hotel, Montego Bay, and online as part of the Ministry of Tourism’s annual Tourism Awareness Week activities.
Award-winning American travel writer, world travel expert and travel trends futurist, Doug Lansky; globetrotter and travel influencer Scott Eddy and President of the Caribbean Maritime University, Professor Andrew Spencer outlined that tourism today is open to innovation and the economic potential of a range of non-traditional attractions.
With the theme for Tourism Awareness Week being “Rethinking Tourism,” Lansky said, “When we start rethinking tourism it means that we need to redefine what success means.” He also stressed the importance of destination management and assurance in delivering what is promised.
Lansky advised, however, that “We need to think long term; if you’re a property, a stakeholder, you need to think beyond what’s the trend that’s going to be over in another three or four months. You need to think big picture.”
Professor Spencer, a former Executive Director of the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo), posited that “the future of Caribbean tourism will be dependent on how successfully the Caribbean region can adapt post-pandemic,” adding, “the region will either exploit the opportunities within the chaos or perish.”
He argued that for a successful re-emergence of the tourism industry there needs to be continuation of growth, but this will require efforts of amalgamation by stakeholders in areas such as tourism operations and crisis and product management, among others.
Given the dynamic nature of travel trends, Professor Spencer noted that in the midst of the pandemic travelers shifted their desires to suit conditions and current trends, with potential influence on the Jamaican tourism landscape, including: the health and safety-conscious traveler, the experienced/immersive traveler, the nomadic lifestyle, the domestic traveler and the tech-savvy traveler.
In the process of rethinking tourism, Professor Spencer highlighted four areas that should be considered priority.
First, health and safety should be at the core of destination marketing and tourism operations; second, diversification of tourism products and carving out new niche markets should be a priority for sustainable tourism in Jamaica post-pandemic. The third area he identified was the creation of crisis management policies and frameworks for resilience in uncertainty while adapting to a digital mindset and investment towards advanced technologies; and fourthly, greater encouragement for inclusivity, sustainability, and collaboration at the multinational and regional level for economic recovery by way of tourism linkages.
According to Eddy, today’s tourism operations should invest heavily into maximizing the use of social media. He also expressed the view that the days of large hotel chains were coming to an end and “eventually, they will be replaced by hotels that are not only aesthetically pleasing, unique and authentic, but that also consider the next generation guests.”
