Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has said Dominica is on the right path to becoming a desirable option for travelers seeking a unique vacation experience.

At a press conference yesterday, he noted that the country has been featured on international lists of destinations to visit, which is an encouraging sign after all the efforts done by the government and other stakeholders.

“You would have noticed that Dominica as a destination is enjoying a period of high visibility and glowing reviews in top industry publications,” he said

“Just in the past two weeks alone, Dominica was named to at least three highly regarded lists including features on CNN travel and Time magazine. These are encouraging signs that we are on the right track with our efforts to position the destination as a desirable option for travelers seeking a unique vacation experience.”

He took the opportunity to commend the work that has been done by the Discover Dominica Authority (DDA) and the many tourism stakeholders–especially since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic–to promote the destination and keep the industry thriving.

The PM noted that Dominica however has more work to do in order to transition into a global brand and the most sustainable climate-resilient destination in the Caribbean.

As part of the reset promised by the government, he said his administration wants to strengthen the tourism authority into a more strategic entity to lead market diversification and penetration and place the sector on a sustained growth trajectory.

He revealed that the government has engaged the managing director of WCG consulting, William Griffith to assist Dominica in transforming the tourism industry.

“To this end, the government lawmaker has engaged the services of William Griffith, the managing director of WCG consulting, which offers specialist services and strategic management and marketing and sales for the tourism and hotel industry,” he stated.

“We have engaged Mr. Griffith to assist and direct us in navigating through the next phase of our tourism transformation. Mr. Griffith comes with a vast tourism experience. He has about 12 years of public sector experience having served as a director of tourism in Bermuda and the CEO of the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc.”

Skerrit stated that among his many accolades,  Mr. Griffifth was voted Bermuda’s hotelier of the year, winning the lifetime achievement award there as well, and was named the Caribbean tourism director of the year in 2018.

He said Mr. Griffith’s corporate work in the first instance is to examine and recommend solutions for building tourism awareness locally, explore trading opportunities and the possibility of establishing a hospitality institute, as well as examine the current business model of DDA with a view to strengthening capacity and effectiveness.

“He will also look to identify and court new airline partners with the objective of securing additional airlift opportunities and assess the status of the current cruise industry to increase its economic impact through improvement of product offerings and of further sensitization of all people on the importance of customer service.”

In the next 12 months, the PM expects to receive a realistic and aggressive strategic growth plan for the next five years.

“In respect to the international airport this week I intend on leading a media tour of the airport site at Wesley [and] as I’ve indicated preparatory work on the international airport project is ongoing and we have hit quite a few targets at the site,” he added.

 He reported that the development and construction of the airport is in keeping with all legal and technical requirements.