Jean Holder. CTO secretary-general

Q: Mr. Holder, can you give us an assessment of how the Caribbean fared in the year 2002?

Unfortunately, we haven’t received all the 2002 statistics, so I can’t give you a real appraisal. We started 2002 with very disappointing outcomes. But we’ve been getting better as the year goes by. There are even some countries that have done somewhat better than last year, especially in the months of November and December. As soon as we have all the information in out hands, we expect (the region) to be 3 to 4 percent lower than the year before. This is for the region as a whole, because some countries will remain unchanged.

Q: The ghost of war, how is it affecting the U.S. market in the Caribbean?

I think this is something that affects all markets, not only the U.S. market. The year 2001 was a time of profound uncertainty, and that trend goes on in 2002. The threat of war coupled with the economic slowdown have pitted the travel industry against one of the toughest challenges in history. The industry overall, and the aviation industry in particular, are going through a deep crisis. In this tension comes to war, you bet there’ll be even worse moments in the offing for the industry.

Q: What’s your opinion about tourism fairs in Europe?

First of all, I think the real value of all these shows like ITB, FITUR and WTM must be gauged and assessed. As the world changes, the importance those events used to have changes a little, too. Today, you don’t see so much real business going on, though these event continue to very important as far as exchanges are concerned.

Q: The Spanish market, the FITUR marketplace is the third largest fair as we speak, at least in Europe. How important is it for the CTO?

We always attend FITUR as an organization, though the Spanish-speaking Caribbean is the one with the largest representation.

Q: There are three new countries this year, Aruba, Curazao and Jamaica. What do you make of that?

Yes, I didn’t mean to say I wouldn’t like other countries to attend, but indeed they don’t seem to be doing a regional effort as a Caribbean organization, just like the WTM does.

Q: From your personal standpoint and after a long career in the CTO, what do you think of the personnel reshuffling now going on both in CTO and CHA? How is this overhaul going to give this organization a new lease on life?

Yes, as we all know, there must be some changes. Some of us have spearheaded this process for years. There’s always someone out there who could be doing a great job, or do much better than we have done. The important thing here is to conduct planned actions.

Q: That’s my point. Are you training new personnel to join the existing teams and carry on the work you started 40 year ago?

We are trying to reinvent the organization. We’ve set up a working team for this purpose, headed by the Tourism Commissioner of the U.S. Virgin Islands. This task force is preparing a series of recommendations for the Tourism Ministers of the participating countries. But since the world has changed, and so has the way to do business as we know it, the new tourism organization will be forced to reinvent itself as far as its role, structure and resources are concerned. We’re lucky enough to count on regional strategic plan containing broad standards and guidelines about the way we can change this paradigm.

Q: You’ve done your best for more than four decades to promote the Caribbean by opening this region to all of its countries and to all sending or potential sending markets. What’s your appraisal of Europe as a tourist sending market for the Caribbean?

Today, Europe accounts for 25 percent of the number of tourists traveling to the Caribbean. In an eight-year span of time until 1999, that figure doubled. From the year 2000 on, we’ve seen a downturn in business activity from Europe, and a number of factors is to blame. The economic slowdown some countries are going through, like Germany; the uncertainty stoked by the war threat, and the negative environment generated by the menace of terrorism. But I think in the long run, Europe goes on to be a very important market, the number-one market for Cuba and the Dominican Republic.

Q: Do you know any candidate to replace you after your retirement?

I’ve already spoken out my intention to retire from the CTO in 2003. This is a point of no return we’re talking about. And I’m confident there’ll be an excellent candidate to take over my post.