Letter to the Editor

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