June 13-19, 2020
TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS
NEWS 13
Ministry of Tourism meets with representatives from the transportation sector
New tourism and hospitality protocols being developed BY OLIVIA ROSE AS THE TCI gears up to welcome back visitors after nearly four months, new protocols are being developed for the tourism and hospitality sector. The Covid-19 pandemic brought global tourism to a standstill and resulted in a closure of the territory’s borders to local and international travel in March. But now, as the Islands are set to open on July 22 the Government has held a series of meetings to develop and finalise new protocols to guide the sector. Over the past few weeks, Minister of Tourism Hon. Ralph Higgs has led discussions and engaged with the health officials and tourism stakeholders to assess proposed measures. On Tuesday (June 9), the Ministry of Tourism held the final round of consultations. On June 1, in a statement Higgs said: “We are eager to welcome visitors back to our shores.” He said his ministry is working feverishly to ensure all necessary measures are implemented to safeguard the well-being of residents and visitors. “In the days and weeks leading up to the re-opening of our borders, the Ministry of Tourism, in close partnership with the Ministry of Health and our key stakeholders within the sector, will be working expeditiously to guarantee the destination’s readiness. “The tourism industry was one of the hardest hit sectors with the closure of borders and curfews over the past few months. “The measures undertaken were necessary to ensure that the Covid-19 virus was contained and that the country, guided by the Ministry of Health, could establish processes and procedures for health, safety and security once our borders re-open to international travel.”
He said that the new protocols, which will be announced to the public at a later date, are based on regional and worldwide benchmarks. Higgs stressed that ensuring the health and welfare of industry workers, residents and guests is paramount. “The Ministry of Tourism’s key objective is to assure potential visitors that we are taking all the necessary actions to prioritise their safety and the safety of those who will serve our visitors at our
world class hotels, villas, restaurants, airports and taxi services. “We will continue to work with our stakeholders from the various sectors, such as tour operators, accommodation, transportation, etc. to ensure compliance with any and all measures designed by the Ministry of Health to minimise the risk of transmission as much as possible. “This careful planning will put Turks and Caicos at the top of the competitive ladder, as visitors will recognise that we
put their safety first. “I am looking forward to the reopening of our borders in a way that will safeguard the health and safety of all and ensure that TCI remains ‘Beautiful by Nature’ and as safe as possible from Covid-19.” The Office of the Premier said consultative meetings began earlier this month with the Turks and Caicos Hotel and Tourism Association (TCHTA) and the transportation sector.
Retooling our citizens in crisis JULY 22 is the announced date for the reopening of our international borders and with it the reopening of the remaining businesses that were closed due to our response to the Covid-19 pandemic. We in the Turks and Caicos Islands have a unique opportunity to retool entire sections of industries over the next five weeks, but we must do so quickly. Through the Ministry of Border Control and spearheaded by the Labour Department, with support from the Office of Public Service Management and in partnership with the private sector, programmes can be designed and executed to retool or enhance the skill set of every Turks and Caicos Islander whom is willing to participate. We have both TCI Community College campuses, Grand Turk and
BY JAMELL ROBINSON
Providenciales, along with numerous empty hotels with conference room facilities that can be used simultaneously to provide enough social distancing to execute any programme. At present, all returning Beaches TCI
staffers will undergo two weeks training ahead of the reopening of our borders. Why can’t such a similar training programme be offered to other hospitality workers? More importantly, training can be carried out for any sector that is desirous to get people back to work. The target groups should be the unemployed, under-employed (ie. those who might be outside of their area of qualification), persons interested in improving their overall skill set, and especially persons who are on company succession plans. While it might be late in the game, it is never too late to make a difference. Therefore, we must seize the opportunity to position Turks and Caicos Islanders as the preferred employee of choice coming out of this pandemic.
