With the intent to raise awareness, enhance the region’s profile and attract positive media coverage, Dominica will join the rest of the region on Tuesday, November 2 in observation of Caribbean Tourism Day under the theme ‘One Sea, One Voice, One Caribbean.”
According to a statement from the Discover Dominica Authority, the island is a member of the Caribbean Tourism Organization and therefore will participate.
“The day is intended to raise awareness among Caribbean people of the importance of tourism in the Caribbean, to enhance the profile of the Caribbean tourism sector in the marketplace, to attract positive media coverage of the Caribbean and to reflect on the invaluable impact of tourism on the economic, social and cultural well-being in the Caribbean,” the authority said.
Minister of tourism Ian Douglas and Shekina Moise, winner of the Tourism Youth Congress, will address the nation at a presentation organized by the Discover Dominica Authority, as part of its Tourism Awareness Month 2010 activities.
Like a child playing with a new toy, Dominica is playing at being a tourist destination.
Greenery and 365 waterways does not qualify as a tourist attraction.
Roseau as the capital is embarrissing. No pavements (sidewalks), men uranating in public,
derelict buildings, garbage left to rot, people harrassing you for a dollar to buy bread (cursing you
when you say no), shops that look like the 99p stores (3EC$)that are mostly located in the poorer areas in the UK scartered all over the place. I could go on and on.
DTA (DD), please listern to what people are saying. Yes we welcome tourism, but lets not just focus on the day trippers. Lets start thinking out side the box and start thinking of long stay
visitors. People who come to the region for their annual 2 week holiday.
There are no golf courses, no tennis courts, no amusement parks, no structural transport system.
Dominica is a mountanious island with no mountain climbing facilities, no organised treking facilities,
no mountain biking facilities. An island with water everwhere and no swimming facilities (not everyone likes swimming in the sea).
If a couple with young children came here, how are they to entertain the youngsters. Children all over the world love going to the cinema, there is no cinema in Dominica. Everywhere shuts at 4 or 5.
In some areas you would think that Domlec that switched off the power, but not so. The darkness is due to no street lights.
If some of the above were implemented, they would generate jobs for the young and if that was so there would be less crime.
Final thought. Maybe the ‘old school’ at the DTA should have an open debate and let the ordinary people have a say (dispite their political beliefs).
Surely some new ideas are needed to take Dominica to the next level.
@Claire:
Claire, i applaud your thoughts and visions. Your comments are to the point that if the Govt would follow up on, we would not be loosing the main source of revenue that Dominica now has which is the tourist industry. This is what happens to followers and not leaders who does not have the knowledge of managing a country. The mayor of Roseau is an (IDIOT) to have made such a comment. And the ministers are followers and not leaders so as to allow Dominica to get to that state of dis-repair. Very soon, Roseau will be in the same condition as the town of Portsmouth. Where are the representatives of those two towns? are you all still getting a salary? i hope not for you all does not deserve it.
@ William McLawrence – World Tourism Day is celebrated on 27th September. This article is discussing CARIBBEAN Tourism Day, which is being celebrated on 2nd November, as the article says…
We have been harping down the same route for many years. There was an excellent article written by Steve Johnson recently which I hope a number of people have read. We can no longer look at our beauty and say that we are the loveliest island in the Caribbean so therefore everyone should visit our shores. The island has become like the Wild West and unless a number of issues are addressed, the Carnival cruise liine will be one of many to leave our shores.
On a recent visit to Dominica, I could not believe how filthy Roseau had become, the situation at the Bay front with the taxi drivers is very alarming and can be very intimidating to any visitor to our shores. Walking in Roseau has become a hazard. The mini buses have to be moved out of the centre of Roseau, if you are not run down by a mini bus, you may break your leg avoiding the pot holes on the side walk.
I was quite amused to hear the Mayor of Roseau say that “Dominica was the cleanest city in the Caribbean”. What standards are we setting ourselves by! The Dominica and Roseau of the seventies and eighties was a much cleaner, kinder and attractive place to visit than the one of 2010.
Please folks, put politics aside and look at what is happening with the island otherwise you will find that there will be no one wanting to visit and all those hotel rooms and airline seats you are hoping to fill will remain empty.
Peace
Ian, it’s under your watch as tourist minister that the Carnival Cruise line decided to stop coming to Dominica. How can you raise Dominica’s awareness and enhance its profile and attract positive media coverage when you are incapable of doing that. As the old saying goes, first you must clean your back yard before attempting to clean someone else’s. When are you going to enhance the profile of your own Town Portsmouth in order to attract positive media coverage to visitors coming there? as the minister who the residents of Portsmouth voted for to represents them you have done nothing to help enhance the profile of that Town. Had it not been for Ross and those expensive houses in Picard, Portsmouth would be the slum town of Dominica. When Cruise ship comes to Portsmouth there is only one place they can go and that’s the Purple Turtle beach. Ain’t you ashame to say that you are from Portsmouth? and that you represent it’s people?
I applaud the Dominica Tourism Authority (Discover Dominica) for joining the region and the rest of the world in observing World Tourism Day on Tuesday 2nd November 2010. The Dominica Tourism Authority however must not participate in the World Tourism Day activities only because it’s a member of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) but rather because it’s the responsible thing to do. The statement “…the island is a member of the Caribbean Tourism Organization and therefore will participate” suggest that we are only celebrating World Tourism Day because we are a member of the CTO. We must be clear in the message we appear to be sending out there since such statements could wrongly inform global tourism executive/officials about our readiness as a tourism destination.
Tourism is the fastest growing industry across the Globe and every destination is working tirelessly to ensure that they receive a fair share of the market. I believe that while Dominica Tourism officials recognizes the importance of tourism to the national economy not enough is being done to ensure that the destination capitalizes on the tremendous benefits that Tourism can generate. I believe that a more creative marketing approach should be designed to attract the type of visitors the destination is currently able to serve and to put in place strategies that will increase the levels of investments that would appeal to awider cross section of the tourism market.
I believe it is while it is a good thing to promote Dominica as an Eco tourism Destination, we must be responsible enough to look at tourism not just from an Eco tourist’s perspective but rather from a holistic sustainable approach to ensure that all sectors of tourism are considered for development. We have a responsibility to reflect on air access with a view to finding creative ways of increasing airlift into Dominica. Does increasing airlift mean that we have to invest in the development of a airport capable of handling commercial passenger traffic using aircraft upwards of ATR 72 at least a 737? Do we have sufficient rooms of acceptable international standards and are our properties designed to appeal to the discerning visitor much less create sufficient appeal for repeat business or referrals. Is the quality of our dining experiences, shopping experiences, people experiences of a standard acceptable to the needs and wants of the visitor. Are our sites and attractions sufficiently maintained and appealing? Does our marketing appeal to the right target market? Do we really mean what we say we are or is this purely lip service?
I must admit Dominica is probably the most naturally beautiful destination through the Caribbean archipelago but the much to be desired in the way we have packaged our tourism products and services, in the delivery of quality services and in the way we market the destination. Dominica must therefore more clearly and seriously outline what role the destination must play in the Caribbean Tourism landscape and in becoming a much much more competitive destination than it currently is in an effort to optimize the benefits to be accrued from this industry of global economic importance. The Tourism Policy must be revisited to determine whether we are meeting the targets which we set ourselves and in which areas are we under performing. Dominica must review its policy position on the type of destination we want to be marketed as and how do we go about enhancing the destination’s products and services to benefit much more significantly from this policy position.
As we recognize the importance of World Tourism Day we must do some introspection of our marketability and of our competitiveness. Trust me, we are way down in the line up and if we do not act urgently ten year’s from now we will still be wondering what went wrong. I therefore urge all civic minded Dominican both and home and in the diaspora to join forces to identify those creative and critical things that could propel us forward as an ideal tourism destination and let’s do something to make it work for us…best wishes for a successful observance of WORLD TOURISM DAY…
Tuesday November 2nd will be the last day we will sea Carnival Cruise line in our waters, it will be a day to mourn not a day to celabrate.