MIAMI – The “Internet revolution,” social values, demography and competition — came under scrutiny at the keynote session of the annual Caribbean Hotel Industry Conference, sponsored by the Caribbean Hotel Association held in Miami from June 25 to 28.
During the session, moderator Peter Yesawich, chairman and CEO of Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell, noted the rise in Internet usage of U.S. travelers, up from 10% 10 years ago to 85% in 2006 and a lively round of debate followed.
“The rise of the Internet is the single most important event since the jet airplane,” said Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace, secretary general of the Caribbean Tourism Organization. “We, in the Caribbean tourism industry, need to mirror what is happening in the marketplace.” Hudson Husbands, chairman of the Barbados Tourism Authority partner in Tourism Global, a professional services firm specializing in the hospitality and tourism industry throughout the Caribbean, acknowledged that “the Caribbean is losing ground in this area and is slipping in relation to the natural competition in the marketplace.”
Agreeing with tourism leaders was Ewart Brown, Bermuda’s minister of tourism and transport. “We’re going to be late if we don’t hurry up. We can’t be observers to changes; we have to play.” Brown advocated closing tourism offices, “stop paying rent and go virtual.” Frank van der Post, senior vice president, the Americas, Jumierah hotels, added “People today are impatient. Any Website has to be easy to manage and navigate with a maximum of three clicks.” (TRAVEL WEEKLY 6/29/06)
