Government
DMMO inclusive, smart and aimed at making TCI the envy of the world, says Premier Washington Misick
By Dana Malcolm
Stay Writer
#TurksandCaicos, April 26, 2023 – The establishment of the Destination Marketing and Management Organization is a social partnership aiming to promote inclusivity, move away from a politically driven board, and develop smart tourism according to Premier Washington Missick speaking in an April 24th press conference.
The social partnership, as Misick described it, will move the country away from an organization focused on only marketing, which was what the Tourist Board was.
“What you have now was set up 30 years ago as a marketing organization— driven essentially by the political directorate of the day, and that is to me not inclusive enough.”
The critical difference, the Premier said, was the management aspect that the DMMO would bring to the Turks and Caicos curating more activities and promoting growth across the entire country. ‘Nothing fails like success,’ he quoted maintaining that without serious efforts to grow and diversify the tourism product especially in the aspects of attractions and activities, the country would stagnate.
“I have personally done extensive research on our market and if you do the same research, you would find that there are glowing reviews on this market but there criticisms about two major aspects of tourism; attractions and activities. In order to have a complete product, it’s important to focus on every touch point in the ecosystem of tourism and so that’s what the DMO will do.”
Both Premier Misick and Josephine Connolly, Minister of Tourism emphasized it was that while change was uncomfortable, there is a great deal of misinformation circulating around the organization and the press conference was held in an effort to combat that.
“There seems to be a significant amount of confusion in the public space about what we’re doing, and some of it may be a deliberate attempt to mislead.” he said, maintaining that this had in fact, been part of the citizen’s contract between the governing PNP party and the Turks and Caicos.
“Whatever we do in this country is connected to Tourism,” he maintained “and we have to focus on sustainability of the economy, the social balance‘s, and our precious natural capital.”
The organization has three pillars:
- inclusive growth,
- sustainable development,
- and competitiveness
To achieve these three pillars, the organization must diversify the tourism products, engage with stakeholders, and ensure tourist satisfaction, Misick said.
The DMO is also touted to employ around 50 staff with the potential to earn $16 million dollars a year through four revenue streams, including membership fees and a new tax levied per tourist.
Another major ask for progress that the DMMO will fill is tourism intelligence.
“It will have a marketing department that will be doing marketing, sales, and tourism intelligence. I want to drive that home, because one thing you don’t get from the tourist board is intelligence.”
He said this was necessary if the country was to be able to target visitors and broaden its source market. The bylaws of the organization were signed on April 14th after much discussion and despite lingering confusion in the public sphere.
The real test is to see if this recent effort by the PNP Administration to enlighten on the DMO has worked to convince residents, this creation is a win for destination TCI.
Bahamas News
Sister Province/Island Relationship Agreement Signed between Grand Bahama Island and Hunan Province
By LLONELLA GILBERT
Bahamas Information Services
NASSAU, The Bahamas — A significant milestone was made in the development of bilateral relations between the Governments of The Bahamas and the People’s Republic of China by the signing of the Sister Province/Island Relationship Agreement between Grand Bahama Island and Hunan Province.
The signing took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. The Hon. Ginger Moxey, Minister for Grand Bahama; the Hon. Dr. Michael Darville, Minister of Health and Wellness; Kingsley Smith, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry for Grand Bahama and Joel Lewis, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry for Grand Bahama represented The Bahamas at the signing.
His Excellency Mao Weiming, Governor of Hunan Provincial People’s Government; Qu Hai, Secretary General of Hunan Provincial People’s Government; Cui Wei, Charge d’Affaires, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China; and Yang Peiran, Interpreter represented the People’s Republic of China.
Minister Moxey explained that in February 2022, she and the former Chinese Ambassador to The Bahamas, Her Excellency Dai Qingli began discussion on the establishment of a province-island relationship between Hunan Province and Grand Bahama Island because of their “immense synergy”.
“Hunan has a vibrant creative industry and its capital city, Changsha is known as the entertainment capital of China, whilst Grand Bahama is poised to become the home of entertainment in ‘Our Bluepoint for Change’.”
She said Hunan Province boasts 11 industrial sectors and Grand Bahama is the industrial capital of The Bahamas. Further, innovation driven development has been a new driving force for Hunan, while Grand Bahama is poised to become the home of innovation for The Bahamas.
Minister Moxey said she is confident that an exchange of knowledge, ideas and culture will happen between the residents of Hunan Province and Grand Bahama.
“There is potential for robust trade in various sectors, opportunities for tourism promotion and intercultural appreciation, exchanges to support performing arts programs on our island, foster growth within the Orange Economy, and tap into China’s innovation, technology and vast expertise.”
She said that the formal signing aligns with the mission of Sister Cities International, which is to promote peace through mutual respect, understanding and cooperation, one community at a time.
The Minister said, “Through collaborative programs and initiatives, this connection will support the government’s vision to diversity Grand Bahama’s economy to become the Home of Maritime and Logistics, Home of Events and Entertainment and Home of Innovation.”
She noted that in addition to signing the agreement, she looks forward to Grand Bahama residents benefitting from the signing of the Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding between Central South University and University of The Bahamas (UB), which will expand educational and technical cooperation between the two universities. The northern campus of UB is located in Grand Bahama.
His Excellency Mao Weiming said although geographically far apart, China and The Bahamas are friends with mutual respect and understanding as well as sincerity.
He explained that 27 years ago, both countries established diplomatic relations and China and The Bahamas have deepened their cooperation, strengthened their friendship and carried out many activities in the field of economy, trade and people-to-people exchange.
His Excellency recalled that in August 2022, he and Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance the Hon. Philip Davis had a video conference where they both reached a consensus to cooperate in order to usher a new chapter in the relationship between Hunan and The Bahamas.
“Today, we are here to sign a sister-to-sister relationship between Hunan and Grand Bahama. It is [a] concrete move to implement
our consensus reached before and also to embark on a new journey of friendly exchanges.”
He added, “By establishing the relationship of sister cities, I believe the two sides will develop further in terms of economic and trade cooperation, people to people exchange, as well as friendship, and we will embrace new opportunities and deliver concrete benefits for the two peoples.”
He explained that Hunan, which is the home town of Chairman Mao, the founder of the People’s Republic of China, has developed very advanced industries of manufacturing, agriculture, education, culture as well as tourism.
His Excellency said he believes that Hunan and Grand Bahama enjoy very broad room for cooperation.
He said, “More efforts should be made to conduct cooperation in the fields of agriculture, tourism, culture, education and the film industry so as to realize a connectivity between our two sides in terms of logistics and the platform cooperation; so as to deliver concrete benefits for the people and to make our due contribution to the bilateral relationship between China and The Bahamas.”
PHOTO CAPTION
A significant milestone was made in the development of bilateral relations between the Governments of The Bahamas and the People’s Republic of China by the signing of the Sister Province/Island Relationship Agreement between Grand Bahama Island and Hunan Province. The signing took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. Shown from left: Qu Hai, Secretary General of Hunan Provincial People’s Government; Cui Wei, Charge d’Affaires, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China; Yang Peiran, Interpreter H.E. Mao Weiming, Governor of Hunan Provincial People’s Government; the Hon. Ginger Moxey, Minister for Grand Bahama; the Hon. Dr. Michael Darville, Minister of Health and Wellness; Kingsley Smith, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry for Grand Bahama and Joel Lewis, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry for Grand Bahama.
(BIS Photos/Anthon Thompson)
Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, April 19, 2024 – In an explosive, self-proclaimed, final budget speech to the people of the Turks and Caicos, Harold Charles, Governors Appointed Member is expressing frustration that many Turks and Caicos Islanders are locked out of top jobs in the country and unable to build wealth.
”I’ve been in this country for 50 years and I’ve noticed all those big developments that come in— the majority of [managers]are foreign people. After 50 years, when are we going to have Belongers manage those businesses?” Charles asked. “I’m upset, I’m frustrated [this is] their home. They have nowhere else to go—- If we don’t empower our Turks and Caicos Islanders we will never get out of living paycheck to paycheck.”
Charles echoed what thousands of locals have been saying for years about the failure of successive governments to get the economic success in the country on a level that residents can participate in it. The member maintained that not only were many locals working for scraps overseas and at home, but that it was the prerogative of the government to create avenues for them to move upward.
”I know the government’s heart is in the right place but somehow we’re not getting it together. I’m talking (about) both PDM and PNPs. It must change. There are many islanders overseas taking crummy jobs when all this opportunity is in the Turks and Caicos Islands.”
Calling on the government to enforce laws which allow islanders to get a foothold in lucrative industries, Charles maintained that TCIG could not let investors come and do as they liked.
”We have all these big companies making millions. They brag about how much they’re making, yet how much do they contribute to the development of our people?”
Charles encouraged the government to mandate that locals were hired in the large developments, taking place across the country.
Capital projects and their execution was another issue that the member highlighted
”Over the past three years in office, we seem to be dragging our feet when it comes to the execution of projects,” he said, “the last budget reflected bitter-sweet sentiment.”
The government managed to spend $29 million of a $57 million capital project budget in 2023/24 financial year.
“Mr. Speaker prior, we promised the people infrastructural investment, improved roads, ease with doing business with TCIG, more scholarships, increased home care, a $900,000 special needs school.”
The Appointed member was also frustrated with the amount of money being allocated to crucial areas including the absence of allocations for a special needs school.
”We were promised that no Turks and Caicos Islander would be left behind while I appreciate the government’s commitment to ensuring this. I am concerned that the relatively low level of funding allocated to education and infrastructure may hinder the effectiveness of effort,” The member stressed.
Closing his speech, Charles maintained that it was “crucial that the sectors receive additional support in order to provide citizens with the necessary resources and opportunities for their development.“
Mr. Speaker it is imperative that we allocate our resources adequately and streamline processes to enhance the ease of doing business with the Turks and Caicos Government. We must priortise increasing service delivery capacity in critical departments such as the customer service department, the register of records, the department of motor vehicles and the list goes on,” express Charles.
Charles reminded that there is a growing demand on the services TCIG provides, especially as the country enjoys unprecedented, year on year, exponential economic growth.
Charles alongside Jameka Williams (Government Appointed Member) Willin Belliard (Governor’s Appointed Member number one) and Alvin Garland (Opposition Appointed Member) will very likely be the last set of appointed members in the House of Assembly of the Turks and Caicos as it transitions to a wholly elected parliament.
Harold Charles indicated it was unlikely he would join any leadership race describing the 2024-2025 Budget contribution as likely his final.
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