Tourism players shouldn’t voice all concerns publicly

Talk show host Claude Skelton Cline has suggested that government and tourism officials should exercise greater control over the public messaging that emerges from industry forums, arguing that while the concerns raised at the recent Tourism Summit were legitimate, some discussions should have remained behind closed doors.

The summit, hosted some weeks ago on Peter Island, brought together officials of the BVI Tourist Board and local tourism stakeholders for frank discussions on the challenges facing the territory’s tourism product. Participants highlighted issues ranging from infrastructure and service delivery to the visitor experience.

However, Skelton Cline questioned whether airing those concerns publicly was the right approach.

“There’s some things that we do not need to have in the virtual space,” he said on his Honestly Speaking programme.

“When you have a tourism summit, sponsored by the government via the Tourist Board, you would think you want to control the message,” he argued. “Some of those speaking points, though real and true and legitimate, and need attention, it seems like to me we should be handling those things behind closed doors, in workshops, in action groups.”

According to Skelton Cline, government agencies have a responsibility not only to address problems but also to manage how the destination is presented to potential visitors carefully.

“Messaging matters. Storytelling matters,” he said. “As a government and as a statutory body, part of your stewardship is message control.”

His comments come as the BVI continues to face criticism over the direction of its tourism strategy. Many industry stakeholders have argued that successive governments have placed too much emphasis on growing cruise passenger arrivals while failing to give enough attention to the overnight visitor market, which generates significantly higher spending per visitor and provides greater benefits to hotels, villas, restaurants, taxi operators and other local businesses.

Road conditions have also become a recurring complaint from residents and visitors alike, with tourism operators warning that deteriorating infrastructure undermines the destination’s premium reputation despite record visitor arrivals and continued investment in the sector. Despite those concerns, summit participants generally agreed that openly identifying the industry’s weaknesses is necessary for meaningful improvements and for the territory to remain competitive in the regional tourism market.