Prime Minister of Antigua & Barbuda Gaston Browne has defended the government’s policy to attract investment in the tourism sector.
The Opposition has criticised the lack of diversification of the economic mix of the country.
But the Prime Minister has stressed that the country continues to benefit from impressive levels of investment in the tourism sector, which, according to him, is indispensable.
“There’s no replacement (for) tourism,” he asserted in a recent speech, adding, “those of you who believe we have maxed out our benefits from tourism, we’re just peeping into that sector!”
“We need at least 10 thousand (tourism) rooms in this country; we only have four thousand,” he revealed.
While lauding the continued attraction of investments in tourism, however, he conceded that “we must continue to diversify our country’s economy, to ensure that we can be more self-sustaining, to manufacture more to grow more.”
Ultimately though, he stressed that “tourism will continue to be the main driver of economic growth and development.”
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are you r*ss can’t invest nothing else?
I’ve been screaming from the rooftops, that Gaston
Now the Prime Minister is there is more to economic growth than the Hospitality Sector.
He’s rightly feeling the heat now, for just focusing mainly on the over reliance on tourism.
Investment in engineering, manufacturing & recycling plants, as well as ‘green’ initiatives should have been the main focus of the Prime Minister’s efforts.
HE’S ONE OF THE MOST SHORT-SIGHTED LEADERS ANTIGUA & BARBUDA HAVE EVER HAD!
Antiguans are more than welcoming subservients…
[End of first paragraph]
*that Gaston Browne’s views on our economy was always one-sided and myopic.
After covid this PM is still so clueless? We don’t need to waste scarce resources on a low skill low income industry. We need a new government with new ideas.
Can you give a suggestion of a new industry which can yield as much or more than Tourism?
My goodness @ N. Of course there are industries that can yield as much tourism (if not more), here’s just five:
1), Agriculture/Agribusiness
2), Financial services (I.e, insurances/banking)
3), The virtually ‘untapped’ potential of the large diaspora market
4), Manufacturing (clothing, engineering & recycling)
5), Chemicals
It can’t just be me that can see other revenue streams, that can easily work alongside our tourism industry…
In addition to what Brixtonian suggested:
Small manufacturing, we have a captive market in Caricom, but we get no benefit.
Solar power manufacturing and distribution. We should be the solar powerhouse of the WI.
IT services
To tell you the truth @ Mr Byam, I think people like Charles ‘Max’ Fernández and Gaston Browne want to keep Antiguans as serfs and subservients forever and a day.
Hopefully, the UPP will develop all the other financial sectors and options for future growth in Antigua & Barbuda 🇦🇬
Our children’s financial and pecuniary survival is at stake!
Again, ABLP putting their eggs 🥚🥚🥚 in ah one basket. Tarl!!!
Farming and manufacturing. It in Antigua and Barbuda can provide more jobs than tourism provide, if used in conjunction with tourism and exporting.
Plus, the owners are local, not foreign investors who take their profit with them to their home country like most hoteliers.
But I am not against investing in hotels, I just want more to be invested in different industries too. I do think the hoteliers can focus on expanding the hotel industry while the government can focused on investing in farming, manufacturing, professional services like my endeavors, mental and emotional health therapy (in a tropical vacation spot already conducive to mental health for visitors), and other areas can be developed that can operate with and separate from tourism. Either way would work or both.
What impressive levels of benefits? All this idiot can talk about are hotel projects. Thirty-odd have failed, yet he continues with the rhetoric. Covid-19 exposed the error of not diversifying the economy, but the dude is just a dunce.
The jobs that these provide will not improve our societal standards and that is his aim. Keep people poor and beggarly then hand them trinkets at election to stay in power.
Check the labels of things coming here, you will realize that other territories have diversified their economies and are exporting to Antigua and Barbuda.
Let’s face it. Gaston Browne is the worst in so many ways.
I believe that investment in tourism should be made in a way that it is an investment in farming, manufacturing and professional service industries.
Farming and manufacturing locally to sell to the tourism sector and export and developing professional services closely related to tourism like that one the PM told me he can not help me with even though it has national importance and substantial merit.
******an idiot will respond to this saying, “for a fire-arms license*****.
It’s scary to me to think of adding so many more hotel rooms. Does the government consider the spin off effects when they plan the never ending expansions? From my perspective, right now there is not enough water available for the people already here, let alone adding more visitors. Are people willing to go without comfortable daily baths indefinitely in exchange for low end hotel jobs whilst most of the profits go abroad? There is not enough affordable healthy food. Everything good is priced to sell to tourists and expats. So, locals are left to eat cheap imported garbage. Think of the health impacts in the near future. There is not enough affordable housing for locals because everything is priced for visitors. When local people start a mass exodus to other countries where they can actually afford food and housing, who will be left to serve all these tourists?
Not to mention the added environmental pollution by massive numbers of visitors. I used to frequent a quiet beach in this country where there is no hotel. Last time I went, in one day a large tour groups was there on land plus two boats pulled up at different times and persons got out to use the beach and then left. I am very welcoming and love to share, but so many boats pulling up right next to me made me leave the beach feeling contaminated and icky. Don’t even feel like going back to a beach in this country anytime soon. When things get overcrowded even the tourists will no longer enjoy the ambiance of the island since they will have to compete with other tourists for space and enjoyment. So, not sure can just keep adding and adding more tourists. Might be better to find other ways of entertaining the ones already here and encouraging more long stay tourism e.g. educational tourism. Both of those options require fewer people and spread the money around a bit more in society.
This money glutton has no time for any investment that will not bring money instantly, especially the ones that concern poor people. He did say that construction is where the money is, and building tourism facilities is it for him.
He is impatient with industry that makes money for the poor people a dollar at a time. Nothing in that for him. He has no interest in social projects. That is money going out, not coming in, and he has no interest in that. Only in what is bringing in money.
@Czar To make money you have to spend money. I don’t believe in a lot of handouts, however, spending strategically on certain social improvement efforts is simply building a strong foundation for sustained development. Without it, money can come in fast but will not stay in. With all the increases in arrivals over the last couple of decades, I don’t see any significant improvement to the country or the people’s lives. In fact, many things seem worse than 20 years ago. So, what’s the point?
@Consider
You completely miss the blogger’s point.
It is cottage industries that support average households. These put food on the table, send children to school, buy them a proper lunch because there is no nutritious school feeding programme.
Social services like proper clinics, decent schools, playgrounds for children, senior citizens’ homes, clean streets, etc, do not bring in money. They are not expected to. These are funded by sound investments made by governments. Look at other places, you will see.
We are not making sound investments. The windfall we made from the CIP is resting in somebody’s account in the Middle East and that money is not here to give citizens a decent everyday way of life.
This is the reason why town is stink and ramshackled, gutters are slimy and germ-infested and streets are overgrown with trees that have taken over whatever sidewalks there used to be. This is why all government buildings and monuments look so unkempt and woeful.
We have been dodging the tourism bullet simply because Antigua and Barbuda is really a lovely place and people love to come here. The smart tourists and the ones who could afford to fly in and go straight to and from the resorts that people who look like them have built. They do not have to see our disdainful national appearance.
We have to be careful. Our luck could run out and soon.
One way to develop other industries is by simply educating as many young people as possible in as many different sectors as possible in accordance with their skills and talents and interests and then investing in their startup business ventures once they have completed their studies. Some ventures will fail, some will succeed, and some can do very well and start new mega industries. That’s how a lot of major tech companies got started – by other people investing in their vision.
We need to develop our tertiary education sector to train young people in many different sectors – trades, academics, creatives, general business etc. and help fund their startups. People also need to start businesses that solve actual problems or meet unmet demands in niche areas not just copy someone else’s ideas. Also, use the uniqueness of our region to create original ventures. That’s normally more successful than trying to start yet another business of the same type in an already full market.
BRAVO @ OTHER IDEAS, YOUR VIEWS AND VISION FOR THE COUNTRY IS SPOT ON … BRAVO 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Did you hear Gaston say on his radio station that most of the hotel workers are non nationals because Antiguans don’t want to work for the low wages. So by building more hotels he will have to bring in more non nationals. And Antiguans will see no benefits.
The split shift system the hotels employ are not good for raising children. Many children of single parents are left on their own which could be contributing to the teenage delinquency.
Now is Gaston thinking of using up all the beaches in Antigua to build hotels? What beaches will be left for Antiguans. Maybe Dark Wood. But then maybe they will drain the salt pond.
Hotels don’t pay income taxes because of all the concession. Most of their bookings are done overseas so they
cheat on what taxes they should pay.
The airport can accommodate only so many planes.
Maybe Gaston will tell us how more hotels will benefit Antiguans. Is he in the construction business?
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