Keeping TCI as a desination of choice

Running along an almost deserted Grace Bay beach on an August morning, it is hard to believe that we have had a record start for tourism arrivals so far this year. Despite the wide open spaces free of people – which would be unimaginable on many of the Mediterranean’s crowded beaches – Turks and Caicos has seen a bigger increase in arrivals than any other destination in the Caribbean in 2014.
Our Tourism Director gave me this great news recently, which was the also the subject of an excellent feature in the Caribbean Journal. The newspaper reported that in the first six months of this year there were 200,000 stay over visitors, which is a colossal 25 per cent increase on last year’s figure for the same period. Companies would give anything to get that sort of increase in their business in just 12 months. It is an extraordinary credit to everyone involved in tourism development here, from the staff maintaining the quality of accommodation to the skills of the marketing  and pr teams the resorts and TCIG employ.
The trick for all of us will be to work out why we have benefitted from that extraordinary increase, and how we can maintain it.
Among the reasons for the success are of course the convenience of Turks and Caicos to the N American visitor, hungry for beautiful beaches, sea and sunshine in their coldest months – although there have also been big increases from the UK ( 80 per cent) and Brazil (57 per cent), but from a low base.
I suspect another major reason is the quality of the product we are offering. Despite some concerns early this year  about our crime rate,  and an uninviting, dirty environment along our main roads and a weak drainage system,  overall we offer a product which is admired and appreciated by visitors. The key, as in any business, will be to ensure that our visitors come back.
We are faced with some big decisions, especially about increasing the height of new builds in Provo, which will influence the  perceptions of visitors. I’m pleased that the Government has said it will have public consultations before any decisions are made. As I saw recently with the rapid development of the Shore Club  on Long Bay, new developments offer an important, fast way of providing jobs for locals.
But we also need to consider the longer term impact of new, higher buildings on our attraction as an up market tourist destination. I can’t believe many US visitors will find some of the new high rise developments in Nassau appealing if they are looking for pretty beaches.

The extraordinary figures for the first six months of this year certainly suggest our product is hitting the right spots with a demanding market, which has lots of choice. Everyone involved in tourism in Turks and Caicos – which is the large majority of the working population, and their children- should contribute to the debate, and let their elected Government and the opposition, have their views about how they want to see the country develop in the next twenty years. Decisions we make today will have a profound influence on the islands’ future prosperity.