Sustainability of tourism in TCI, and the zeal to preserve it.
#TurksandCaicos, March 30, 2021 – In a true sense of the word, sustainable tourism is one that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host.
As a country, we have come a long way and can proudly boast that
we are the envy of the Caribbean in terms of desirability but, is it
sustainable?
Prior to the pandemic, there were public concerns that tourism
in our country was growing faster than our ability to cope. With the sharp
decline in this area, it gave us a moment to pause and reflect on how dependent
we are on the tourism dollars, and to question whether or not we are truly a
good host.
Without a coordinated response, we risk being unable to fully
capture the potential of tourism and protect the long-term sustainability of
this vibrant but fragile industry.
As we press forward and look beyond the post-pandemic era, we should
be asking ourselves, what can we do differently to save our most valuable
product which is ecotourism?
It’s crucial that everyone take the depletion of natural
resources seriously and do everything within our power to sustain our natural
environment.
Turks and Caicos is now at a crossroad where the Bahamas and
Jamaica once were, in terms of growth and development. Where we go from here
will determine the long term future of our country.
So how do we continue to thrive and nurture what we have?
If our government is really serious about saving our ecotourism
industry, it must start with saving our coral reefs, our pristine beaches and
wet lands. These are the areas that must be protected at all cost.
Red flags are being raised in areas such as, damages and
depletion of our coral reefs, crumbling infrastructure, but are these areas
getting the attention that’s needed?
It all begins and ends with forging a strong partnership,
collaboration and trust between the public and private sectors.
Department of Environmental and Costal Resources (DECR) and
Maritime departments, will need to be given an attenuated role with managing
national parks and more autonomy to operate.
Access to the needed resources for enforcement in these
particular areas has long been a challenge. Basic needs such as, channel
markers, proper reef moorings, a Marine vessel, are all areas of dire need
particularly in Grand Turk.
What is of paramount importance is, bridging that gap and
aligning the aforementioned departments with local Water Sports organizations
and the Turks and Caicos Reef project.
I believe the end goal could very well be achieved merely
through training and education of tour operators, both land and sea.
With close oversight and support, these private organizations
could play a vital role in helping to protect and preserve a sustainable
ecotourism in our country.
What we have seen over the years is, the departments might have
had the best intentions or strategies to help save our environment, but lacked the
resources to execute on anything.
Case in point: On any given day when the cruise ships were in,
we had anywhere from 3500 to 4000 passengers embarking on our shores in Grand
Turk.
An overwhelming majority of these sunbathers remain right on our
pristine beaches.
There are no available public restrooms facilities, no direct
beach access for emergency vehicles and at the end of the day, the beaches are
left littered with garbage, with no assigned government workers to assist with
clean up.
Is this what one would call protecting our most valued tourism
product? Nevertheless, it’s not too late; with cruising at a standstill, it’s
perfect timing to get our house in order before they resume sailing.
With tourism being the primary economic engine of growth for our
country, we are in an acute position and cannot continue to ignore these
critical areas, or play politics while ignoring the need for a total facelift
of the nation’s capital.
There also needs to be a national conversation on saving our
reefs with a unified effort. Failure to address these critical improvements
would only exacerbate issues and in the long term and put the country in a more
vulnerable position.
We can no longer be shortsighted when it comes to the future of
our country. With that being said, more focus should be on yield per visitor
and return rate rather than just the sheer number of visitors to our
Islands.
Based on the aesthetics as it is right now, especially in GT,
I’m afraid to say it’s not very inviting to the naked eyes.
If there’s one lesson that we can derive from this pandemic is
the importance of protecting what we have control over.
Therefore, in order to protect and sustain what we have left to
call our own, ecological restoration will have to become front and center of
any development or revitalization plan going forward.
Ed Forbes
Concerned citizen of Grand Turk