Minister of Tourism speaks up to give the ‘right’ workings and origins of DMO

By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicos, April 26, 2023 – An inclusive model that centres on small entrepreneurs and provides sustainable income streams, is the promise of the DMMO according to Josphine Connolly, Minister of Tourism, speaking in a press conference on April 24th.

It was held in an effort to combat misinformation, and Connolly described in detail the plans of the Destination Marketing and Management Organization which include zoning the country to make tourism growth more even.

“We have to step up our marketing, develop and promote more local products– it is not enough to say we have sun, sand, and beaches. We have to develop more opportunities for visitors to be immersed in our culture, our food and the warmth of our people. This cannot be achieved by the current Tourist Board, an organisation which was purely for marketing,” she said.

She explained that under the current system, politicians controlled who were in charge of the Tourist board whereas the DMO would give all stakeholders a seat at the table from the Taxi Association to Hoteliers.

“What we have created is an organisation that puts you as direct participants in charge of the growth and development of the tourism sector. We are putting you in the co-pilot seat,” she said.

Even growth was a major goal for the Tourism Ministry, Connolly maintained.

“For many years the tourism sector developed unevenly mainly to the benefit of Providenciales. The DMO will facilitate the balanced development of tourism across the archipelago.”

The DMO will divide the country into Tourism Improvement Districts to leverage the unique characteristics of each island. In addition, a first-ever Tourism Improvement Fund will be established to improve infrastructure and create more attractions, a mandate she says the current Tourist Board structure is incapable of carrying out.

The DMO will ‘leverage the entrepreneurial spirit’ of TC Islanders using the connections afforded to it because of its inclusive structure.

“These islands have seen a surge in young people owning their own businesses, whether in tour operation hair or makeup or culinary arts. The DMO will be an active agent for the marketing of your products to our visitors,” she promised.

Connolly said no longer would the small man be left to fend for themselves, rather local business would be identified and actively incorporated and marketed as a part of the overall product. Outdated information systems in the Tourist Board will be done away with, Connolly promised, and data collected with the new and improved DMO systems will be shared with the public.

She expressed confidence that TC Islanders would see the value in the organisation with the in depth explanation.