I love the Internet. Along with shoes and eating, it's one of my favourite things to have and do. And, as a marketer, first and foremost, I love the unlimited potential of it. But what I love about it the most is its quick nature. I can spread messages and talk to people I've never met within seconds. I can have focused, interesting discussions on Caribbean tourism with international individuals, getting their new and objective perspectives. I'll say it again - I love the Internet.
Glyn from caribbean.ibooking.com and holidayintobago.com is one of my more interesting conversations. He's a bit gloomy, but he's very funny and I have no doubt that he'll persevere until the end to promote the Caribbean online. Glyn sent me this article recently about American Airlines pulling certain carriers out of the Caribbean. According to the article:
"American Airlines will no longer serve Antigua, St Maarten and Santo Domingo with jet service out of San Juan. It will also reduce flights into San Juan from 38 to 18 from September 3, as well as discontinue nonstop daily service to San Juan from a number of US cities. American Eagle will reduce its Caribbean schedule from 55 to 33 daily departures out of San Juan from September 3 and eliminate daily flights from San Juan to Aruba as well as to Samana, Dominican Republic. Both destinations will continue to be served daily from Miami".
My word! Certainly, I'm still a little upset with American for that time that they cancelled my flight in Puerto Rico, while I was sitting patiently at the gate, and then didn't even bother to announce it over the intercom. But, I'm willing to forget my grief for the time being. We both have bigger problems...
Reduced flights mean less traffic from our closest developed-nation neighbour, the United States and we all know that the US is our biggest and best customer. Action such as this, always results in a reaction:
"The developments in the San Juan, Puerto Rico hub were a cause for concern among regional ministers of tourism who met in Antigua last Thursday to discuss the impact of rising fuel costs and the pull out of some carriers from the region."
So that explains Vincent Vanderpool's musings about "raising the price of the ticket" in our interview. It also gives me further insight into the new software they're developing. It is going to both market and organize Caribbean tourism from immigration cards to tour and taxi bookings, whereby cutting major and outdated costs. Ahhh...I think I have a better understanding of their strategy now. We're streamlining Caribbean tourism. We're going to make it a well oiled and functioning machine. Factors beyond our control - rising oil prices and American Airline's poor performance - are threatening to increase our "Caribbean ticket" prices. The only thing we can do to make ourselves competitive is to economically cut our own prices. This is a necessary strategy. It's the only strategy.
It's also a blessing in disguise. In my years on this earth, admittedly still limited, I've realised a few things (surprise!). One of those wonderful life lessons is that real growth, sometimes sadly, only comes from pain. Even though there will be setbacks to the tourism industry - they'll be setbacks in society, at large - we'll be forced to unify and organize ourselves. Then, and only then, we can come back stronger than ever. The very clever Peta Bain, once said to me that the "balance of power" that exists in the world travels in a circular pattern around the globe. As the balance of power that now exists shifts from the United States to Asia, there must be some upheaval. It's to be expected, dynamics and energies are shifting, we just need to remember to stay calm. This too shall pass. But, what I want to propose to you is that when that balance comes back to our side, how about it being ours then? It'll take time. We have a long way to go, but it has to start now and then, and only then, will it be our turn. So, let's start by getting everyone in society really organized - this strategy is tried and tested.
Talk about persevering to the end!
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