Chairman of the Antigua and Barbuda Hotel and Tourism Authority (ABHTA) Alex Debrito is adamant that a 10-year plan for the sector is vital at this time.
Debrito, who spoke exclusively with OBSERVER media, shared his belief that in order for the sector to bounce back and truly flourish a plan needs to put in place which deals with proper management and continuity.
“We need to have a plan for the next five to 10 years. Of course, those plans don’t always work out the way we want because there are extraneous factors which can affect our industry. But we need to have a plan, we need continuity. Reacting sometimes to when we have a crisis is good, but it’s not good enough.
“Planning and continuity in what you want to be identifying, what kind of nation we want to be. I think we have a lot of things to offer.”
He went on to add that more young people should be introduced to the sector.
“We also need to continue education [on tourism] in order to have more and more young Antiguans ready to work in the industry. I think if things roll like they’re planned, we will have more hotel rooms, more jobs and more qualified people.”