People from all socioeconomic backgrounds in all industries benefit from Antigua and Barbuda’s strong economic recovery, which is driven, in large part, by the tourism sector.
That is the assessment of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority (ABTA), Colin James.
Antigua and Barbuda has continued to make a remarkable rebound from the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic which brought with it a significant downturn in the economy between 2020 to 2021.
Antigua and Barbuda was the first country in the Eastern Caribbean to reopen its borders and return to business following the initial global lockdowns.
Since then, the country has been able to work its way back to recording an impressive 8.5 percent economic growth in 2022.
While a small contraction is forecast, the country is forecast to record economic growth of 7.6 percent this year.
Despite these figures which prove the country is performing well, there is often the complaint that the benefits of the country’s economic progress are not enjoyed by the common man.
CEO James, however, has denied this assertion. He says the benefits of the country’s tourism driven economic growth makes its way into the pockets of the ordinary men and women who work in hotels, and as vendors and taxi drivers.
“One of the things that has been remarkable about our recovery, first of all, the increase that we are seeing in what’s in the industry is called the ADR, the Average Daily Rate that people pay to stay at a hotel.
“Unlike some destinations where they did serious discounting to get people back, we in fact did it the other way, and it worked for us because we have a good product, number one,” said James during an interview on Pointe On De Streetz on Pointe FM.
“Antigua and Barbuda has excellent (air) lift, excellent access, and so, because our product is good, people pay for value, and we have been able to get higher rates.
“That means higher service charge for the people who work directly in the industry, and it means more taxes are collected on the ABST (Antigua and Barbuda SalesTax).
“I am getting feedback from key stakeholders – particularly from the taxis and transportation ambassadors at the airport – they are feeling the volume of the huge influx.
“The folks who are vendors or taxi drivers who are directly involved in the industry, they can feel it. They know what happened when the industry totally shut down and they are seeing the effects of the comeback.”
James also encouraged people who work in the industry, such as vendors and taxi drivers, to equip themselves to maximise their potential so that they are in a position to reap even greater benefits from the tourism industry.
“Like anything else, I think you have to also position yourself whether you are an entrepreneur or small businessperson to take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves,” James said.
“One of the things that we did, for example, at the Tourism Authority, particularly with the work that we are doing over in Barbuda, was to make sure that we conducted a fundamental training for all tourism first-hand persons who interacted with guests.
“This is to ensure that you engage with them, to still be professional, but to still give an authentic Antiguan and Barbudan experience and I think those entrepreneurs and vendors and those taxi drivers that operate like that, they will see a difference in their income.
“So, I think it takes a while obviously, for that to trickle through…but if you look in industry and you look in people who are associated with hospitality, you will see a remarkable difference between those who give customer service.
“If you are transporting guests and you don’t talk or you don’t engage or you don’t smile, they will come out of the taxi, they will pay you your fare, but they would not give you a tip, but if you engage, you will probably make more in tips than what you make from the fare itself and that is the type of service quality that we want to instil in people in industry and encourage that.”
