About advocacy

What is advocacy, exactly? 
According to Merriam Webster, advocacy is 'the act or process of advocating or supporting a cause or proposal.'

Benefits to CHA members

Through its advocacy efforts, CHA works to sensitize public officials, the communities, and the industry itself, about its role and contribution as a foremost export sector - paving the way for a climate conducive to the sustainable development of tourism in the Caribbean, hence, the competitiveness, profitability, and sustainability of your business.

Why advocacy?  

The CHA believes that there is still insufficient awareness and understanding of the tourism industry’s contribution to Caribbean countries - how it permeates the economy as well as the overall fabric of Caribbean societies.

As stated for example in the 2004 World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) study on the economic impact of Travel & Tourism in the Caribbean, “Over the next ten years, Travel & Tourism in the region is forecast to achieve annualized real growth of 4.1 per cent, in terms of GDP, and 2.8 per cent in terms of Travel & Tourism employment. This would take the share of GDP and employment to 16.5 and 17.1 per cent respectively by 2014.”  The report goes on to state that the impact would be greater than forecast if “the underlying regional and national policy framework were conducive to growth.”  Click here to download the full WTTC economic impact study.

We believe therefore that given the tremendous impact of the tourism industry on the lives of Caribbean people, it is our obligation to actively lobby the relevant regional agencies and institutions to ensure that the concerns of the tourism sector are at the forefront of their decision making processes. In this way we hope to contribute to moulding the Caribbean’s political and social climate in a way which positively fosters the tourism sector and continues to contribute to the advancement and development of our societies. 

The Caribbean Front
Private Sector Positions on Tourism Services in Trade Negotiations

Throughout 2007 close collaboration was sustained between the CHA and the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM) to allow the CHA to continue to defend its recommendations on the liberalization of regional tourism services within the context of external trade negotiations that the Caribbean region is involved in.

Of highest priority during 2007 was the finalization of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between CARIFORUM (CARICOM + the Dominican Republic) and the European Union (EU). On December 16th, 2007 the final EPA agreement was initialed by representatives of both sides after intense negotiations and only just meeting the looming deadline of the end of 2007. Please click here to read David Jessop’s article reviewing the landmark inclusion of tourism in the Caribbean EPA (downloadable pdf file).

CHA’s activities with regard to trade negotiations commenced back in 2003 with input into and comment on the CRNM commissioned paper entitled "Tourism Services Negotiations: Implications for CARIFORUM." This report and industry feedback on it led to the development of an official tourism private sector position to help Caribbean governments and their negotiators to develop a common regional approach to tourism services liberalization issues. These discussions and findings further allowed Caribbean negotiators to have a clear understanding of the significance of the tourism industry to the region and the challenges it faces, and factor it all in their trade negotiations on behalf of the Caribbean.

Subsequently, in January 2005, the CARICOM Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) approved CHA's position statement for adoption as the official negotiating position for Caribbean governments moving forward.

The CHA took further initiative in 2006 by commissioning the production of a joint CHA-CTO Position Paper on the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). This paper presented on behalf of regional tourism stakeholders detailed recommendations and positions on how tourism services should be treated within the EPA agreement currently under development. Simultaneous with the production of the Position Paper, CHA commission the production of a joint CHA-CTO Tourism Annex with a view to ensuring that appropriate rules and positions governing tourism services would be integrated into the language of the actual EPA agreement.

Throughout 2007 the CHA-CTO proposed EPA Position Paper and Annex were reviewed and discussed at the regional level. Following regional consultations a proposal on tourism services was taken forward by the CRNM and tabled in negotiations with the Europeans. The CHA was pleased at the inclusion, sometimes verbatim, of its suggested text on:

• Competitive safeguards
• Access to and use of information e.g. CRS & GDS
• Mutual recognition of tourism professionals
• Sustainable tourism development
• Technical assistance
• Joint Committee on Tourism

During negotiations it was agreed between CARIFORUM and the EU to include Tourism as a chapter within the EPA agreement rather than a separate annex. This was received as a positive development given that tourism itself has never been included as a separately considered sector in any regional trading agreement in the past.

In the final agreement there are comprehensive rules for the tourism sector including those to safeguard the interests of the mainly small firms in the Caribbean by preventing large firms from behaving in an anti-competitive manner. There are also provisions for cooperation and mutual recognition of qualifications as well as technical assistance for the tourism sector. The EPA also has special provisions for Short Term Visitors for Business Purposes in the tourism sector as well as others.   Click here to read more of the CRNM’s analysis of the final EPA agreement (downloadable pdf file).

Advocacy in action: Although the Caribbean EPA has been completed there remains work to be done which will require the ongoing involvement of the CHA. For instance, details remain to be ironed out on the implementation of rules and requirements agreed to in the EPA and the overall management of the same. Where these pertain to tourism there will be the expectation that the CHA will continue to be involved. Further, the mechanisms for the distribution and use of development financing is yet to be determined and again, as far as this pertains to the tourism sector CHA will remain involved.

It is expected that the CHA’s approach to inputting into the EPA negotiations will form a template approach which may be applied to other future trade negotiations such as the Region’s likely future discussions with Canada and the USA.

CHA Position on Climate Change and Carbon Emission Trading

Given the recent explosion of interest internationally, but in particular in the EU, regarding the climate change issue and the environmental impacts of the tourism industry in particular, the CHA took the initiative earlier this year to collaborate with the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) on the formulation of a regional tourism position on climate change and carbon emissions trading.

Following the completion of the position paper, the CHA, its environmental subsidiary, the Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism (CAST), along with the CTO, hosted a meeting in London on March 13th, to discuss recent developments in UK government policy affecting the travel industry, aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change.  Representatives from tour operators, airlines, travel associations, and government all met to discuss areas such as taxation and maintaining competitiveness in the face of these measures.

At the London meeting, CAST Director Deirdre Shurland set the stage by tabling two fundamental principles behind the Caribbean tourism industry’s position as it relates to climate change:

• The fact that Caribbean tourism depends so heavily on the sustainability of its natural and environmental assets; and
• The understanding that Caribbean countries should not be disadvantaged - and their development efforts should not be curtailed - as a result of mitigation efforts by industrialized, developed countries acting to curtail their own negative impacts on the environment. 

Against this background, the CHA-CTO position paper supports a strategy that is proportionate for developed and developing countries within carbon trading schemes.  “[The Caribbean] should not be penalized as the world’s major economic powers move towards curtailing their past, present, and future impacts on the global climate,” states the document, adding that every effort must be made to ensure that future consumer movements and government action do not deter potential European travellers from taking vacations in the Caribbean.  Instead, “[they should] ensure that programs are established to demonstrate to consumers that they can balance the impacts of their travel to the Caribbean,” it says.

The CHA and CTO joint position stressed the need to apply emission taxation schemes to all transport sectors, not just aviation, and it pointed to the potential consequences of transport services passing on the cost of carbon credits to the passengers, which could discourage long-haul travel to the region

The CHA-CTO position paper highlighted a few preliminary thoughts on schemes being explored to manage the carbon-emitting impact of the industry, while fostering the growth and development of Caribbean nations.  They include:

• Creation of carbon trading programs – whereby polluting businesses in the travel trade (such as airlines flying to the Caribbean, for example) can buy permits to emit carbon dioxide from lower emitters (such as eco-resorts or hotels with energy saving practices).
• The establishment of a carbon emission verification system in the Caribbean – a structure to oversee the issue and trading of certificates and permits.
• Development of a carbon trading hub – Both private and public sectors have stressed their commitment to work towards the long-term vision of the Caribbean region functioning as a carbon trading hub; where funds for regional development are generated through the trading of carbon permits.  Some portions of these funds can be ploughed back into sustainable tourism and regional climate change mitigation programs.
• Carbon offsetting programs – A way for individuals and business to become “carbon neutral”.  Individuals would be able to pay to offset their proportion of the carbon emitted on a journey to the Caribbean and that money would go towards a carbon reduction scheme in the region.

“It is our hope that the CHA an CTO Position Paper will serve as a template for replication in other Caribbean tourism markets, following the vision that the Caribbean comes to be seen as the travel industry leader in combating climate change,” concluded Deirdre Shurland.

The March 13th London meeting was organized by The Caribbean Council and co-chaired by Senator the Honourable Allen Chastanet, Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation for St Lucia and Chairman of CTO, and Peter Odle, President of CHA, also included presentations from Dimitri Zenghelis, Senior Economist, HM Treasury; and Andy Cooper, Director General, Federation of Tour Operators (FTO).

CARICOM Visa for Cricket World Cup 2007

Late in 2006 it was announced that from 1st February, 2007 to 15th May, 2007, the countries involved in hosting events for the 2007 Cricket World Cup would be treated as a Single Domestic Space. This would apply to: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago.

It was notified also that Nationals of 11 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Ireland, Italy, South Africa, Spain, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, and the United States) and their dependent territories, as well as all CARICOM Nationals except Haiti, would not require a visa to visit the Single Domestic Space for Cricket World Cup 2007 or for any other reason. All other individuals would require a visa.

In response to concerns raised regarding this initiative by tour operators and other tourism industry stakeholders, the CHA arranged for the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Affairs & Development for Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley, to make a presentation at Caribbean Marketplace on the new visa regulation. The presentation took place on Sunday, January 14th, 2007, and provided travel trade partners with an opportunity to ask questions, express their views and in general better understand the reasons for the imposition of the visa requirement.

Regional Tourism Summit

In the midst of a global crisis in the travel and tourism business, following the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, a Regional Tourism Summit, held in The Bahamas in December 2001, where the heads of government tourism called for a long-range Master Plan for Tourism, was a step in the right direction after a 10-year hiatus since the last regional tourism summit. Another significant measure arising from the summit was the plan to revive advertising for the Caribbean as a region in the important USA market.

CHA hoped that the Tourism Summit in The Bahamas would emerge as the beginning of a much closer relationship between the wider tourism industry and the policy makers of the region.  In 2004, new CHA President Berthia Parle MBE commended some Caribbean governments and registering her concern for the different levels of attention they pay to the Caribbean travel and tourism industry, at the annual meeting of the CARICOM Heads of Government. Parle called on governments to consider CHA's request for an Annual Tourism Congress with all Caribbean Heads of Government, Ministers and Directors of Tourism, and private sector leaders, to discuss and consider key policy recommendations and actions to advance a mutual interest in tourism. It is CHA's position that the industry, which is so vital to the future economic development of the Caribbean and welfare of its people, cannot, and should not, wait another 10 years for the next tourism summit.

North America

United States International Trade Commission
Following a meeting of the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) Board of Directors, CHA has taken steps to increase its advocacy efforts in the United States. The most noteworthy of these recent efforts is CHA’s participation in a United States International Trade Commission (USITC) hearing on the Caribbean Region: Review of Economic Growth and Development, which was commissioned by U.S. Congressman Charles Rangel and sanctioned by the House Committee on Ways and Means. CHA President Peter Odle and Director General and CEO Alec Sanguinetti presented pertinent information crucial to the enhancement of U.S. policies regarding economic growth, trade and tourism in the Caribbean.
 
CHA’s presence was requested in a letter sent to Sanguinetti by the USITC Director of Operators, requiring the hospitality organization’s expertise to enhance the investigative process so that the hearing could delve more deeply into trends and issues facing the Caribbean region’s economic growth and stability.
 
“Our report to the USITC has laid the foundation for the creation of new economic policies that take into account the current status of Caribbean tourism and its contribution to our local economies, as well as the significance of the U.S. market in each country,” said CHA President Peter Odle.
 
The comprehensive report features information on all factors pertaining to Caribbean tourism and economic development including passport regulation, employment in the region and global climate change, as well as suggestions for potential targets for U.S. aid, such as human resource development programs and hospitality service training initiatives.

Click here to read the full report.


Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) - US Passport Requirements

In 2005 the CHA commissioned and released the findings of an economic impact study of the United States passport regulation that would require US citizens visiting the Caribbean to be in possession of a valid US passport to re-enter the US, effective January 1, 2006. The study, conducted by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) on behalf of CHA, considered the market share of visitors from the United States to the Caribbean and the percentage of those visitors that do not use a valid US passport - and examined these figures against total visitor exports earnings in the region, which total US$20.7 billion.

The study concluded that in the Caribbean, as much as US$2.6 billion of visitor export earnings and more than 188,000 Travel & Tourism jobs could be at risk. These findings, as well as the CHA Official Position Statement, were submitted to the US Department of Homeland Security.

In September 2005, the US Department of Homeland Security announced a delay of one year in the implementation of passport requirements for US citizens returning from the Caribbean. The CHA used this opportunity to collaborate with all public and private sector partners of the Caribbean hotel and tourism industry to educate prospective US visitors of the impending requirements.

The US requirements for returning passengers by air eventually came into effect on January 23rd, 2007, while the rule for cruise passengers was delayed until June 2009 and the date for land travelers to Canada and Mexico was fixed for January 2008.

For the first four months of this year, it is reported that the Caribbean lost over US$400 million in tourism revenue directly because of the early implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) and most of this loss of revenue was felt in CARICOM countries.

As predicted by the US Customs study of August 2006 and the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) study of June 2005, the demand for Passports by US citizens so overwhelmed the processing capacity of passport offices that the Department of Homeland security relaxed temporarily the full requirements of the WHTI for air travellers with the intention to reinstate the full requirements after September 30th 2007. Meanwhile expressions of financial harm to travel industry interests in the United States have been heard in addition to complaints regarding the restricted ability of US citizens to travel overseas to their destinations of choice. Further, it has now been confirmed that those CARICOM countries that rely heavily on impulse travel have been the hardest hit by these processing problems.

It has now been shown that all countries in the Caribbean have been affected by WHTI including US territories and even those that already required US Passports for entry. It is believed that the publicity surrounding the new passport requirements caused confusion among the US travelling public and to some extent tainted the image of the Caribbean as an easy-to-access destination. As a further detriment to the region, it has been found that after the acquisition of a passport, those persons that were previously confined to Caribbean choices for vacations are now looking much farther afield. This induced competition will undoubtedly have the largest long term effect.

Advocacy in action: In June 2007 the CHA joined the CTO in calling for a postponement of the full reintroduction of WHTI to June 2009 for ALL travellers. It is anticipated that this will allow, at least, some additional time for our destinations to recognize that we need to become much more competitive in our offers and in our services.

Click here to download the World Travel & Tourism Council's Commentary on the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative

Click here to download the World Travel & Tourism Council's Passport Study.

The European front

8th European Development Fund (EDF)

In 2003, CHA signed an agreement with CARIFORUM and the European Union to execute a component of the Caribbean Regional Sustainable Tourism Development Programme funded under the 8th European Development Fund (EDF). The program marked the first time that the European Union provided funding to the Caribbean’s tourism private sector.
 
Estimated at Euro 8 million, this program is designed to be implemented over a five year period. CHA, CTO, and the Pontifical Catholic University Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) in the Dominican Republic are the implementing agencies of this program. The overall objective of the Program is to contribute to economic growth and poverty alleviation of CARIFORUM countries through increased competitiveness and sustainability of the Caribbean tourism sector. Sustainability represents the main concern of the program; in this respect, the essential aim is to build up a real tourism economy, based on high value added, niche-oriented products. The program also has a major research and information technology component that will strengthen CHA’s research capacity.  The program is expected to come to completion in 2008.

PROFIT in the Caribbean

In August 2003, PRO€INVEST announced it had selected CHA to team up for the staging of a partnership meeting for the Caribbean tourism sector.  The main objective of PROFIT in the Caribbean is to promote partnership and investment opportunities in the tourism industry sector by bringing together enterprises from the Caribbean and Europe.  The successful inaugural edition of PROFIT was organized as a stand-alone event in October 2004, in Jamaica, with the collaboration of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), the World Tourism Travel Council (WTTC) and the International Hotel and Restaurant Association (IH&RA).

A follow-up meeting was held in conjunction with CHTIC 2005 in Barbados, taking the established regional investment conference to a new level with a business component.  The main objective was to create a sustainable forum for bringing together business partners from the EU and third countries to promote investment in and development of the tourism sector in the ACP Caribbean.  The event provided a major business-to- business opportunity for the Caribbean tourism sector with special support for small, medium and large scale businesses.  EU partners include ICEX, FTO and Ubifrance, which collaborate with CHA in the promotion of partnerships between EU and ACP Caribbean companies.

Advocacy in action: The CHA has been the beneficiary of some PRO€INVEST funding support. For example a study was recently completed by Tourism Global on the Caribbean Accommodation Sector as a Consumer of Locally Produced Goods and Services and Contributor to Government Revenues. The final report from that study was published early in 2007 and has been very favourably received by industry stakeholders eager for hard data to support positions on the economic impact of the Caribbean tourism industry.

Other projects for which the CHA will seek PRO€INVEST support are currently under development.

Workshop on Caribbean Tourism

In November 2003, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) mounted the first-ever policy workshop on tourism to be held by any European government. Its broad objective was to better understand how tourism relates to European policy towards the Caribbean and how tourism can be made more central to the political, economic and development policy dialogue between all European Union capitals, the European Commission, and the Caribbean. The two-day meeting was highly successful, with four of the six final recommendations for action having originated in the opening remarks of then CHA President Simón Suárez. Following up on the workshop, CHA met with Member of Parliament, the Rt. Hon George Foulkes, and John Marshall Esq., Head of the Caribbean Unit of the FCO, in London, to explore in more detail the areas where the British Government may collaborate with the Caribbean tourism industry.

CHA is now in the process of evaluating the development and research areas for which they will seek support from the British Government. Among them, the development of a Tourism Investment Fund has already been identified as a priority. The Fund would be the first step to get adequate capital mobilized within the Caribbean for financing, with a view to making projects attractive to international financial institutions. It would target indigenous, small hotels, which are under a heavy debt burden.

European Parliament

Twelve months after the first-ever Caribbean tourism policy workshop and following an aggressive agenda of meetings in the United Kingdom and Brussels throughout the year, CHA culminated its advocacy efforts in 2004 with another milestone, the successful meeting between the key senior players of the European Parliament and Joint Parliamentary Assembly and the Caribbean tourism industry.

The co-chair of the European Union / African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) Joint Parliamentary Assembly - Glenys Kinnock, MEP, presided over the meeting. Sharon Hay-Webster, Co-chair for the ACP side, also attended. CHA's goal, going into the meeting, was to sensitize European and ACP parliamentarians to the unique position of tourism as the only path to development for Caribbean communities – and seek their support to ensure that tourism is moved up the EU/ACP policy agenda.  It was learned that the European Parliament Development Committee will produce a report and hold a hearing on tourism and development in 2005; CHA's role will be to embark on a campaign to ensure that it was included in the EU’s priorities.