President of the Dominica Hotel and Tourism Association (DHTA), Gregor Nassief, believes ways must be found to streamline the process for those entering Dominica at the ferry terminal in Roseau.
Addressing a DHTA press conference recently Nassief said a ‘very very significant’ amount of visitors to Dominica come from the French islands via the ferry and there has been complaints
“We have gotten complaints over and over again … it is almost a form of visitor harassment the way the customs, particularly the immigration process is currently handled,” he said. “It is very tiring, very long and it is very frustrating.”
He pointed out that these are visitors Dominica has to compete for since “they can go on the ferry to St Lucia, they don’t have to come here.”
Nassief noted that tourism officials need to work with each other to streamline the process.
“We’ve been speaking about this in the last week to DASPA (Dominica Air and Seaport Authority) and there are clear and simple things we can do,” he noted. “We are going to work with them hopefully to solve these issues very soon.”
He stated that the key thing is to look at the importance of the tourism industry and that Dominica is competing for visitors to come and earn their hard-earned cash.
“Let’s make the visitor experience more enjoyabe,” Nassief said. “It is not that difficult to do.”
Last month owner and Managing Director of ferry company, L’Express Des Isles, Rolland Bellemare, called on local authorities to implement measures at the terminal to improve the situation there.
They really do need to take measures . They need to havea special line for dominicans . Why do we hsvr to ho thru the same procedures as non nationals and wait hours in a line smh …
Some persons talking about Horrible Attitude from Port officers,but Dominicans and Foreigners alike come to our country and they believe salvery still exsist ,trust me DNO the customs Officer go through a lot with rude traverls they want to bring in what they want,speak to the customs officer how they want and expect the Officers to smile .is not so …….Dominicans must be Honest with themselves …Am talking about the ones who are posting all kinds of BS about our Country …Common on be real,when we go to other countries we don’t complain and the treat us like shit……..Lets give our country want she’s been looking for ,PEACE and TOLERANCE…..Let these ppl respect our Country….mR nASSIEF YOU MUST STOP THAT
Im not for the streamline thing,honestly I believe the customs department is doing a great job,although there is always some room for improvement ….However some French person may take this as an opportunity to bring in all kinds of illegal substance…..and there are many other reasons….What I could suggested that is the expansion of the Ferry Terminal into an International Port …..seeing that it is located in the city….An Ideal location for the expansion will be Canefield Airport which I tend to think is no longer useable for Air Planes.
It’s true; getting on and off the ferry in Dominica is an uncivilized, unbearably slow, inefficient and dehumanizing experience. Who ever designed the ferry terminal should be ashamed of themselves. Departing, is like sitting in an oven before being herded like cattle to the slaughter.
Caricom citizens all have the same format passport. If that organisation means anything there should be a separate cannel upon arrival for such citizens. At least, in Dominica there should be a separate channel for Dominican citizens, without the need to fill in a form. Upon arrival In the U.K., if you are a E.U. citizen you can even swipe your passport without having to show it to an official.
i am writng this blog from st lucia i arrive on fri from Dominica guess what it takes about 6 mins to go through Immigration and Customs as caricom national and good customers services very professional not wonder st lucia is ahead of us in development .
they are first to implement free movement in oecs that speaks volumes
when gunz and drugz and contraband will stop from the French countries , then they will stream line until then no way never
Peter, I think that traffic is the other way round, especially drugs, passing from Dominica into the french territories for distribution in Europe.
There will be no changes at none of the ports of entry in Dominica. I took my first trip out of Dominica at 14 years old, and the horrible attitudes have not changed. These are just some of the short comings one has to deal with, upon arrival in the Nature Isle. It’s sad, but that’s just the way it is.
Anthony your experience may be real but I refuse to accept that tose things can not be changed and improved to make life easier for everybody.
One has to believe that there is a problem, before they can think of implementing desired changes. The Customs Department has been horrible for such a long time that their abnormal behavior is normal.
It seem that nassief want the visitors to justpasx through.however when u gp toother island u go ghrough immigration ths same way.u have to wait.in the states u have to go through so many security chek .ever wander y.its because of what the world have involved itself in. Drugs and terorisim. And so dominica is no exception. D customs officer has to do their work they muzt search because the drug money cannot go through the bank nor western union, so someone has to carry it in person either by plane orboat.
US Customs does have various check points, but there is a major difference. The spaces are much larger, accommodations are appropriate and customer service is much improved.
These are areas that does need improvement in Dominica.
I am a Dominican who travel to a lot of countries national and international. Customer service is key to any business. This is the first person they meet and first impression is a lasting impression. The custom officers and workers are dry very slow and have some dirty attitudes. When someone is spending their money, no matter visitors or regular people, you need to treat them good. If not there will be no business and they will have no job.
Everyone has problems, but it seems that sometimes they want to take it on someone else. If you don’t want to serve the public, well get another job. Dominica is tourism and agriculture, if these entities are not reinforced an not see it is Dominica back bone, well we sure to feel the pinch of poverty. So many other countries in the world, we have to compete with, so we have to properly do our best like it or not.
Malcasay…
Pompous and arrogance that’s the attitude with those custom and immigration officials.
Same thing happened to me, I live overseas but I come to Dominica often with my Dominican Passport, last month the immigration officer ask me what is the purpose of my visit, the address where I will be staying and how long am staying for. I was so surprised I did not know what to say
Agreed, one security is not compromised.
Totally unacceptable. No wonder we are last in every area of economic endeavors. Even after 17 years of creole festival where hundreds of people come in for that weekend.
How can we compete when these basic services are not up to standard. The issue is just representative of the severe breakdown in most government system. There is no doubt that the square peg round hole syndrome is deeply rooted. The political partisan appointment, politicians with nome to little managmentioned skills in charge of critical entities within government machinery.
This is why Dominica is seriously in need of a change- surely we can do better than this. Our current politicians are way to compromised to make bold changes-way too much skeletons hanging in and out of the closets of these crooks and cronies
It all boils down to CUSTOMER SERVICE. Employees who are serving in the public domain must receive special training on how to do their jobs while they treat the customer with respect. In particular, when you are at a port of entry you must be welcoming; be efficient; be on the lookout for contraband and illegal entries, that is true, but you must make a positive first impression on the visitor who has other choices on his travel list. If that visitor has a negative first impression, I guarantee you, Dominica can kiss that visitor goodbye. That goes for Dominican nationals who are returning home as well. If the reception is poor, then other than coming home for funerals, there are lots of other places in the world that welcome our hard earned vacation dollars.
Whatever happened to Courtesy Week and then later the Courtesy Month that was implemented by the Man in the Valley under Dame Eugenia’s reign? We should go back to every day being Courtesy Day.
i may sound ignorant but i dont care bout the visitors i care bout us locals that waste our lives at the terminal and all ports on this island processes that dont take 5 minutes in most other places of the world take more than 45 minutes here. what a place this country is
All of the stuff is SOOOO simple!!!
Information Technology …. Why are we ,in 2014 , still filling out these stupid Immigration cards ??? In the most inefficient and delay inducing process possible? Is there not an phone app for this? or a website one could go to on the ferry itself before you land or before you get on the ferry? ..I bet no one reads the slips anyway. These days with machines able to read passports , we do NOT need immigration officers to be examining and stamping every passport.
Why is customs still going though EVERY passengers bags … Everywhere else there is a ‘nothing to declare’ line with the odd passenger stopped and examined with hefty penalties for customs breaches … much more efficient.
Why can we not have some comfortable seating WIFI and vending in the immigration area , especially for the ill, elderly, pregnant and very young … just take a ticket and when your number is called you get processed.
Honestly ..we shoot ourself in the foot every time here in Dominica… SMH
In domine its time they put old school ways aside
And move to the more advance ways of doing
Especially in the tourism sector, what Mr Gregor
Said makes a lot odd sense, they treat the tourist
In such a way that many of them don’t wanna
Go back to Dominica for one reason because of the way the immigration deals with them on entering
Many a time I run into them when I travel.
The love Da but its its to difficult with the way they things, they has to wait to long in lines to get checked, it only happens in Da, so we need to do better if we wants tourist to come to or island.
I see one person talk about when they go to gwada the french citizens just flash their passport/id’s and pass. That’s no longer so so I dont know how long ago u have been to gwada but certainly the process is no longer than about ten seconds for residents. I have traveled to quite a few countries and have observed that citizens dont wait that long in lines at immegration. Why should a dominican citizen in this day and age have to fill in an immigration form even when u live for a few days. The solution to this is simple like all other countries citizens should just have there passport verified an go through that will clear the lines quickly .make the visitors form shorter. Name passport details where will u be staying length of time.
Cut out that crap of custom form . No one is going to tell customs that they are brining in contraband or that they have more money on them that they did not declare when they know they cant account for it. Finaly I have no problem with customs searching through my stuff that’s their job but lets not take 5min to go through 1 pc of luggage when you have a 100 ppl wating. This is my resolution to the problem of immigration and customs
I will say that for the nth time. It’s only when you live overseas you can understand the sad state of customer service in Da. Generally we are not cordial people, Instead we are abrasive, interfering and individualistic. The way the custom and port workers behave is just how we treat each other. Dem fellas need a special course customer service because they really carry on like Kawat, moun bwa, who didn’t stay in school for long. A silly question for Possey people, Why after more than 30 years in Da the Ross graduates don’t bother to visit and retire here? Why is that there is such a low percentage of expats? Dominica pretty plenty but elah we last kakarat in the way we relate to people.
Gregor and all others: Worthwhile comments, but we got our priorities all wrong. The things we say we want for tourists are relevant for us to. Aren’t Dominicans who use the port first and foremost the most important visitors. Shouldn’t customer service be for us too? As Dominicans we can say we are a warm people. But as far as customer service goes, at all levels, this is sadly lacking. The idea is that everyone in the service industry must be cognizant of the relevance of treating a customer with respect and dignity. And it goes without saying that allowing the customer to get service in a reasonable time and with reasonable discourse is part of expectations. Since the service providers do not get it, the government service at all levels need to consider this as critical training, starting with the senior levels. Why can’t we have a customer awareness week of sorts to start the ball rolling? We can’t we set standards in every ministry of service times and response times, if we really want to take this to “another level”? After all, every Dominican deserves that. And only second, the tourist, not vice versa.
Pedro, you are a bit sensitive there man. Of course, we locals deserve better treatment also but that is a given. I don’ think mr. Nassief implied that tourists should be given preferential treatment. Let’s treat all with courtesy and friendliness.
Jojo, I don’t agree. Everyone should be given the same expectation of prompt and courteous and customer friendly service everywhere. There is no one standard for tourist and another for locals. Its not “a given” as its not happening. Its time we get it. If you personally are content with a lesser lever of service, and do not care if it takes 5 years for your local experience to be better then thats fine but Dominicans as tax paying customers do not deserve any less.
Pedro thus is a very good idea. I think that the customer service week should be during the week of creole festival.
From day one the terminal was not constructed to house the flood movement of incoming and outgoing ferry passengers.
Since the inception of the Ferry Terminal, passengers have tripled in numbers making it seemingly uncomfortable for both passengers and the authorities. Presently it remains impossible to remedy this present situation because the issue stems from the lack of space, especially in line of immigration officials who cannot add more bays to facilitate patrons.
Customs on the other hand hardly have any confrontations with French Nationals unless suspicion arises and i know for a fact that Customs simply do not check one day french passengers.
Government said that they intend to remodel the Canefield Airport into a cruise village, maybe that’s the alternative to reconstruct the ferry terminal at that location to alleviate the present space issues.
All of you are so right, I’m a Dominican and it’s one thing I hate to do coming to Dominica every time you arrive the police will ask ,,, how long did u go for….. what was your reason for traveling, and they go on and on and on, for god sake I’m coming to my country I have to go through all of these questioning like you run away from Dominica and they finaly find u. This is so embarrassing to see you go to other peoples country and you don’t even go through this, they make you feel most welcome. Sometimes you just feel like telling them where the sun don’t shine but these low men can do what they want and get away with it , so it’s no use getting in trouble, but it’s to much , that’s one thing our PM have to look into
This is another reason why we need change to become more efficient and more competent in dealing with tourism/visitors at large. Mr. Gregory Nassief is correct and knows exactly what he’s talking about. We all feel the growing pains of being last and inefficient in dealing with the incompetence of those who run things on the island.
The good news is, change is coming and we all should help in making it happen as soon as the election is called. We deserve the best for our beloved island and we have the best to attract tourist from all over the world. But first we need change from the top to bottom in every departmental agency in government.
It’s not only the French that have to deal with this, locals deal with it too. I travel frequently and ALWAYS experience the waiting, the disorganisation. The last time, we left the boat, and waited outside for more than 5 minutes waiting because officers were not there yet. That too was after waiting a good while on the boat to disembark.
The officers are not friendly neither, or bother to apologise for the wait or such..
We don’t have a international airport or up to standard,ferry terminal what you expect. ? you realise is 2 or 3 officers checking boat load of ppl smh blame the government for poor facilities.
This something close to my heart and I entirely agree with Gregor Nassief. We need all the visitors we can get and their arrival in Dominica should be a welcoming, friendly experience. No offence to the immigration and customs officials but they should be taught that they are a very important part of that Dominica experience. We should also review the facilities at the terminal , which are cramped and not inviting. First impressions are so important. I am a Dominican myself and must say that entry procedures are a daunting, rather than a pleasurable experience. We can do better than that. Let’s look at best practices in other countries and pick the best aspects for us to emulate, if not to surpass.
Mr.Nassief the immigration officers in Dominica are very unprofessional and the customs all they do is dig through your items and steal what they can,it will never change in dominica,you have a prime minister that is just ripping off the country and the public officers do as they please.
Listen up you authorities, you do not get a second chance to make a first impression. When visitors come to these shore and they are given a frosty and unpleasant reception by you, guess what, they aren’t going to be too keen to explore never mind spend.
My heart bleeds when I read such stories. We do not even have the basic customer skills which should make visiting tourist want to embark on a great time whist in Dominica and in doing so they spend their hard earned cash without hesitation.
We can`t seem to understand that to every action there is an adverse or positive reaction. We really need to wise up in this country and understand what our roles are, each and every one of us, from the Police to the Farmer. We owe it to ourselves to make the tourist feel warmly welcome.
NOW, lets sharpen up on those CUSTOMER SERVICE SKILLS until it becomes second nature.
it’s not only for the tourists nah. i think they need to change the way they deal with dominican citizens as well. ferry terminal, airport, its the same thing. when french pple enter their country they just flash their cards and go. here, its like customs want to interrogate us.
last time i went to guadeloupe via l’express d’es iles. i went wednesday, came back saterday. everything is stampdated. whole line of tourists, handful locals. officer has my passport for 2 mins, carefully browsing each page. after asking ‘do u live in guadeloupe or dominica?’. i shook my head and said officer u went thru page by page, only one french stamp. wednesday this week. still asking where i live? want my address down to house number. by time he done with me, im all the way at the back cuz most french citizens have gone thru, while im at the back being ‘interrogated’ for coming back into my own country.
was at the airport, international line, local line. 3 locals on a plane full of visitors. when we got to our line, 3 chinese nationals there. havent filled out their customs form. heard one ask, do i full out in chinese or english? and officer there helping them full out card while 3 locals at the back of our line. at the end we had to slide into the visitors line cuz by then the line was clear, and chinese still in local line.
that needs to stop. we’re coming back to our country with dominican passports. stop putting visitors above us
Please lets stop making statements like that of puting visitors above us. This is not happening although that’s the way we seem to view it sometimes but even the visitors go through the hassel, but you are correct about the fact of being asked where you live and immigration paging your passport . In this day and age we should not have to go through this hassel