News
Turks & Caicos Leads Tourism Industry with High-Profile Road Show
#TurksandCaicos, October 6, 2021 –The Turks and Caicos Islands Tourist Board, the exclusive tourism
authority for the Turks and Caicos Islands, embarked on its first post-COVID-19 road show with hotel partners in the U.S. market, which contributes to over 86% of the destination’s land-based visitor arrivals. As the Tourist Board continues to promote the destination as the preferred luxury destination in the region, a key element of its marketing strategy is to leverage industry partnerships and ensure that the destination’s messaging is effective, cohesive and remains consistent with the destination’s brand image.
Hotel industry partners in the Turks and Caicos Islands were offered the opportunity to partner with the Tourist Board and participate in the road show, which was hosted in the destination’s source market, the east coast, in the cities of Philadelphia, Jersey City and New York City. A total of eight partners participated in the Tourist Board’s annual show including, Amanyara, Beaches Resort and Spa, COMO Parrot Cay, Grace Bay Resorts, Sailrock Resort, The Hartling Group, The Ritz-Carlton Turks and Caicos and Turks and Caicos Collection. The group of participating hotel partners represented a diverse range of high-end properties in Turks and Caicos Islands, such as private islands, properties on the iconic Grace Bay Beach, all-inclusive properties, and the option to stay on the idyllic sister island of South Caicos.
The road show hosted by the Tourist Board was deemed a great success with more than 140 of the destination’s top-producing travel advisors in attendance. From the 20th to the 22nd of September 2021, travel advisors across the tri-
state area were treated to networking sessions, presentations from hotel partners and a destination presentation and update from The Director of Tourism, Pamela Ewing. These sessions were well received by the advisors, as they became more knowledgeable on the destination’s product offerings and gained more knowledge on all sister islands and the wide range of accommodation options and experiences available on each.
The exclusive events adhered to all COVID-19 safety protocols, including requiring that all partners and attendees were fully vaccinated.
Pamela Ewing commented, “I am delighted at the excellent turnout we received for each event. Travel advisors and wholesalers are a key factor in the success of the destination’s tourism industry, as tourists count on these advisors to offer guidance on the destination, plan trip itineraries, and make travel arrangements for them. The more they are informed on the product offerings and experiences available in the destination, the more business they will contribute to destination, resulting in a flourishing economy.” Ewing continued, “During my destination presentation, I emphasized the ease of access, unique experiences, and accommodations available on each island. I also encouraged day trips to each sister island; however, we recommend overnight or longer stays on each island to get the full experience. The Tourist Board promotes each island as a destination within a destination, offering visitors a variety of unique experiences to keep returning to the destination and explore each island individually.”
For many travel advisors, the road show was their first in person event, and they were excited to interact with the Tourist Board representatives and hotel partners. The Turks and Caicos’ new travel requirements, inclusive of a vaccine requirement for all visitors aged 16 and older, were praised by all advisors in attendance, noting that clients feel safe and secure traveling to the destination as a result. All advisors anticipate a busy festive season for the Turks and Caicos.
The Turks and Caicos Islands continues to implement an extensive marketing and promotion strategy and plans to continue these road shows on the West Coast for 2022, which represents a growing audience for the destination.
Press Release: Turks & Caicos Islands Tourist Board
Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, April 19, 2024 – In an attempt to move to 24-hour-a-day operations Turks and Caicos Islands Airports Authority (TCIAA) is steadily recruiting Air Traffic Controllers to work at the Providenciales/Howard Hamilton International Airport, according to Godfrey Smith, TCIAA CEO, reporting to the Appropriations Committee.
Speaking on April 8th Smith said a cabinet paper would be sent soon requesting six more Air Traffic Controllers to make round the clock operation at the Provo International possible and to open the airport in Grand Turk till 12 a.m.
Currently, 17 posts are filled and seven are vacant.
Smith was candid with his responses to recent industrial action from ATCs which led to resignations and firings.
“What we have to do is find systems to mitigate such actions and that has to start with filling these jobs, putting people in that want to
work and doing right by people – and we always try to do right by our staff. Persons may not think that we are but we always do – we ain’t pick no fight,” he said in the meetings held at the NJS Francis building ahead of the National Budget Communication.
Smith indicated that recruitment was an issue across the board, ‘we need to find ways to recruit a little bit better’ he told the committee. Also in need of a push was capital spending or projects according to the CEO, who said the agency had ‘not been very good’ at meeting that mark but insisted they had recognized the issue and could do better.
A very important key performance indicator drawn up by the TCIAA is increasing passenger satisfaction at the Howard Hamilton International Airport. For the TCIAA part of this means a 30 percent increase in seating by Q2 of this year.
When queried on if they could even handle this increase the CEO said,
“The fact of the matter is we already have the capacity there. What we need is to make the service a bit better.”
Staff shortages have become such a frustrating issue that the TCIAA is instituting a scholarship program created by Authority Chairman, Selvyn Hawkins
“What the board wants to do is basically allocate $25,000 annually for a scholarship and they’ve approved it already.”
This process would cover tuition and all other costs for one student.
The student would return as a summer intern and other breaks to work at the TCIAA and upon graduation, assume a role at the company.
“We identify a particular skill we need, we go after it and we build capacity that is in a nutshell the nexus of the program,” Smith said.
The Turks and Caicos Islands Airports Authority (TCIAA) is allocated $49 million this financial year; over $20 million goes to salaries.
Company delivers fastest speeds nationwide and boosts service reliability
PROVIDENCIALES, TURKS AND CAICOS, APRIL 19th, 2024 – More connections, faster speeds and greater support for customers. This is the promise from communications and entertainment provider, Flow TCI, as it embarks on an initiative to provide households with enhanced connections, greater overall reliability and now, for the first time, speeds up to one gigabit person second.
FLOW TCI Country Manager, Joanne Missick shared: “Our customers are at the heart of everything we do. We listen to our customers and want to exceed their demands, so we are focused on delivering unmatched value with customer centric products and services that are future proof. Flow subscribers on our Fibre Extreme package can now access up to one gigabyte speeds and subscribers on our Fibre Plus and Fibre Max package, as of April 1st, are also now benefitting from up to 5x more speeds.”
This is third speed boost for Flow customers in the last two years. This comes under the umbrella of the the Company’s recently launched “Working for You” campaign, where technicians are going into the neighborhoods across the island to conduct repairs, decommission copper cables, and increase the brand’s visibility in local communities.
“To date several neighborhoods have been served by technicians and the company will continue to go across the islands to ensure each neighborhood receives personal attention. We recognize that over the past few months some customers have experienced issues with the quality and delivery of our services. This is not what we stand for. Flow remains committed to providing technology and innovation
that enables growth and positively impacts lives”, says, newly appointed Head of Technical Operations, Simeon Thomas.
Thomas adds, “We have been closely monitoring and reviewing every aspect of our network and there is room for improvement across each of the islands. Where we find shortcomings, we are taking concrete actions and assigning our technicians to rapidly make all necessary adjustments and improvements for our customers”.
Flow has made significant investments in expanding and modernizing its infrastructure and delivering a more robust and reliable network paving the way for the country’s digital transformation.
For more information on speed increases visit https://www2.discoverflow.co/turks-and-caicos/price-adjustment-speed-increase on our website.
Thank you for your usual assistance in sharing our stories.
-
News6 days agoDR man rented Jet Ski nine days ago in Providenciales; where is he now?
-
Health6 days agoDengue cases rising in Region
-
TCI News2 days agoExperience Turks and Caicos and Ministry of Tourism explore development of Cruise industry at Seatrade Global Cruise Conference
-
Caribbean News5 days agoCARICOM pushes need for Reparations Tribunal at Forum in Geneva
-
Education5 days agoCampus Brawl at Clement Howell High sends students to Hospital
-
Caribbean News1 week agoCARICOM, UN applauds published decree establishing Haiti’s Transitional Government
-
Caribbean News5 days agoCARICOM sends warning as Oil prices creep higher in the Israel v Iran conflict; 14 regional states import energy
-
Bahamas News1 week ago$36 Million Dollar Upgrade for World Athletics Relays in Nassau, Bahamas