TCI Tourism sky high, some systems flunk in the boom

#Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands – April 1, 2018 – Guests are paying thousands of dollars per night to stay in the Beautiful by Nature Turks and Caicos Islands as the country is experiencing a robust high season, despite a devastating encounter with killer hurricanes Irma and Maria a mere six months before.

In speaking with some tourists, they are awe struck by the beauty of TCI waters which appear in hues of blues and greens, most striking of all the true turquoise colour of our slice of the Atlantic Ocean.  What guests are less impressed by is the long wait many still have to endure due to a shortage of immigration or border control personnel.

It was three weeks ago that a fix was determined to improve the situation at the seemingly overwhelmed Providenciales International Airport, but there remains a major issue with at least one of the private airports or FBOs.

Provo Air Center is the longest running Fixed Base Operator in the country, and a significant reason the Turks and Caicos ranks in the top three of most popular private airport destinations in the Caribbean. Still there are human bottlenecks because of the surging interest in destination TCI.

High end clientele, flying in on multi-million dollar jets with their families and paying up to $40,000 for vacation stays in Providenciales are stuck at the FBO for hours because there is no border control officer stationed at the site.

Magnetic Media was contacted as the Easter Weekend rolled in and informed that these clients, businessmen and guests arriving on private airplanes were forced to wait for hours and they were not at all pleased that their holiday and business in the luxury tourist destination was put on hold due to insufficient staff or poor scheduling.

Our news organization immediately reached out to the Deputy Governor’s Office and the Deputy Premier to inform of the matter.  There had been no official replies, but the DP Sean Astwood who is also the Minister for Border Control promised to look into the situation, of which he was unaware at the time we contacted him.

Employment and management of employees in the Public Sector falls under the Governor of the territory, and is directly in the portfolio of the Deputy Governor.  While there has been announcement that recruitment for officers is imminent, there is a present problem and those watching the botched scheduling of personnel are vexed and concerned that this recurring issues will blemish the reputation of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

To us it was penned, “Only in the TCI do we expect to have the highest level visitors and charge high prices but treat people like garbage because we’re completely tone deaf. People are upset, they are calling the Deputy Premier and planning to make other calls.  Wow, Deandrea, I’m floored.”

To add insult to injury, Magnetic Media is also informed that private planes are waiting inordinate lengths of time to take off, due to the congestion at the Providenciales International Airport.  Most of the North American carriers arrive and take off around the same time of day.

We are told that many complaints are filed with officials expressing the variety of concerns.

And while our systems and processes are obviously in dire need of ‘tweaking’, the country is boasting sold out rooms at our award-winning, luxury properties, including the largest of them all Beaches Resort Villages and Spa; proof that promotions and advertising is working to woo the type of guests that are willing to pay top dollar to spend a few days on the World’s #1 Beach.

The question looms; what are we willing to do ensure that the red carpet is rolled out at all of our ports of entry for these hundreds of thousands of people who continue to keep us in the ‘red’.