Caribbean tourism industry could become a source of generational wealth—CHTA
Encouraging entrepreneurship to boost tourism in the Caribbean is key to generational wealth.
This is according to the head of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), Nicola Madden-Greig, at last week’s Global Tourism Resilience Conference in Jamaica.
Madden-Greig urged to shine the spotlight on the entrepreneurial class and in turn nurture this segment of society through tourism. Eventually, she explained, this will enable generational wealth, encouraging residents to become owners of their products and services.
“As we continue to grow, we have to make sure that we use tourism to build out our entrepreneurial class … but also to look at generational wealth and not solely be employees, but become owners of the product and the experience,” she said.
According to data from the Caribbean Tourism Organization, “the Caribbean destinations received an estimated 32.0 million international tourist arrivals” in 2019 before the pandemic, which is “4.4% or some 1.3 million more than the 30.7 million of 2018.”
In 2021, travel and tourism in the Caribbean “experienced the second-fastest recovery of all regions, with its contribution to GDP growing by 36.6%, data from World Travel and Tourism Council revealed.
The youth of the region can see potential opportunities in accounting, web development, and technology, added Madden-Greig, and in order for this to progress, joint efforts of tourism officials across the region are essential.
Prioritizing the younger generation
The Commonwealth of Dominica has also prepared a plan to encourage generational wealth among its younger citizens, not in tourism but in the form of home ownership.
In July last year, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit introduced the “Future Housing Programme,” where affordable housing will be made more accessible to qualified residents who are 45 years old or younger and are employed within the public and private sectors.
“In Dominica, we do not have a deep-seated culture that takes this into consideration. But with proper generational wealth planning and management, wealth can be passed down for many generations within families. This is important because we all want to give our children a significant financial advantage early on in their life so that they have a better chance at successful and progressive futures,” Skerrit previously explained.
The Future Housing Programme is also part of Dominica’s efforts to provide better housing units that can withstand the effects of climate change.
Most of the projects in housing, healthcare, education, and transportation are overseen by MMC Development Ltd., a private developing company that has closely worked with the government of Dominica for many years.
These projects handled by MMC Development Ltd. are mostly funded by the country’s Citizenship By Investment (CBI) program.