ACS-CHA Dialogue on Tourist Safety Begins

The Regional Policy Dialogue on Tourist Safety and Security, organized jointly by the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) and the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA), with the technical and financial support of PROINVEST, commenced Thursday at the Cascadia Hotel in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

The opening ceremony began with remarks by Mrs. Bernadette Nathaniel, Executive Director of the Trinidad Hotels, Restaurants and Tourism Association (THRTA), as the program’s Master of Ceremonies, which was followed by interventions by the ACS Secretary General, Dr. Rubén Silié; Ms. Susan Springer, representing the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA); Mr. Stelios Christopoulos, Minister-Counselor and Chargé d’ Affaires of the European Union and Ms. Melba Dedier, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism of Trinidad and Tobago.

The keynote presentation, delivered by Dr. Clifford Griffin, Lead Consultant – Tourist Safety and Security Network: Policy Dialogue and Action Planning Project, centered on the findings of a study commissioned by the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) and the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) on the issue of Tourist Safety and Security.

Dr. Griffin’s tourism forecast for the Caribbean region was largely positive, and projected that the tourism sector would contribute to 15% of the region’s GDP by the year 2014.

Among the issues identified that were of particular concern were port and border security, infrastructure, food, health and health care delivery systems, crisis response, the environment, education and training, employment and distribution of tourism benefits, terrorism, crime and harassment.

Under the issue of crime and security, Dr. Griffin found that property crimes against tourists were among the most prevalent, with robbery and larceny accounting for almost 90 percent of all crimes against these persons. Interestingly enough, crimes against the person, including rape, indecent assault and murder were in the minority, and there was a very low probability of the tourist being a crime victim.

The Regional Policy Dialogue on Tourist Safety and Security will continue until tomorrow, July 7, ending with a closed session for high level officials of the tourism, legal and judicial sectors to identify issues for priority attention and interagency collaboration and to develop an Action Plan for the areas which the Regional Tourist Safety and Security Network would seek to address.