Interview with Hon. Denise Charles, Minister for Tourism, International Transport and Maritime Initiatives, Dominica

03 Jun Interview with Hon. Denise Charles, Minister for Tourism, International Transport and Maritime Initiatives, Dominica

How would you characterize the sectoral performance of tourism in 2023 and what are your projections for this year?

During the Covid-19 pandemic we took a deep dive into our operations. We did the entire review of our strategic plan, our master plan and our marketing and we engaged a consultant for a stakeholder survey consultation to see if we align our stakeholders’ expectations.From this review of operations, we realized that people still were confused between Dominica and the Dominican Republic, after all the efforts over all these years so we made some strategic changes. We changed our marketing agents and hired Zapwater Communications as our new agency to promote our destination. The stakeholder consultation told us that our brand was not standing out with our destination logo, so we did a bold re-imaging of the industry, a brand new logo that received outstanding reviews from both visitors and stakeholders who could connect with the vibrancy of the destination.

Green doesn’t have to be boring. We are nature. That helped us to better position our nature brand. We took a different approach because our destination was for sun and sand but we are a beautiful nature island and despite us telling people that we’re a nature island, they did not understand our nature and the diverse products that we offer. We launched a great campaign which welcomes people to dive into our nature, swim, rejuvenate and revive in nature. We were one of the countries that had an early opening after Covid; we opened our borders by having innovative protocols, we had a safe-in-nature product that allowed businesses to still come to Dominica. You could stay at a certified accommodation and still enjoy the natural beauty, in a specific corridor. That worked very well for our country.

What are the most appreciated features of the island nation by tourists?

Our brand is nature. We defined our nature. We focused on aqua tourism: scuba diving, diving, kayaking, or sailing. We have diverse products. But one of the key things we’re doing is to ensure that the world knows that we focus on being a green destination and it is in our legislation. For example, we discovered recently we have a number of resident whales in our ocean. We decided to establish the first whale reserve in the world. We are currently in the process of finalizing the draft. The legislation for that will pass soon so that we will protect our resident whales. Many people come in for whale watching, but we want to protect them because we have a large reserve of whales staying in our waters. The protection of our marine environment is critical for Dominica. We already have two marine reserves, one in the Soufrière constituency and one in the North, in Portsmouth.

People come here for hiking experiences and ventures and just to breathe and reconnect in nature again, rejuvenate and revive. They have been closed out. People love hiking in Dominica. We have the longest hiking trail in the region, the Waitukubuli National Trail. We also developed an innovative product: you can also hike the island by sea through kayaking, the Waitukubuli Sea Trail. We have a land trail and a sea trail. Many people came to Dominica just to kayak our sea trail.

Then there is our dive product. People come for diving and snorkeling. There’s a growing demand for free divers. We have a lot of free diving competitions. We also have our hot springs for wellness and they revive and rejuvenate the body. A lot of our accommodation properties offer yoga retreats, like Jungle Bay and Rosalie Bay Resort, which focus a lot on wellness tourism. Many large groups visit Dominica to do yoga retreats.

But the key to Dominica’s true success is our people. Our people are warm and hospitable and make you feel like family. All visitors comment on how they feel so safe and like a family. We have a very safe destination. People love to help people. They enjoy it when visitors come and want to learn about our culture and our country. From taxis to tour operators, they all make our guests feel very welcome. Just the fact that people can connect so easily to our nature and our culture continues to make us a number one destination.

How are you working towards a greener and bluer economy?

We are pursuing generating electricity by geothermal. The first plant will be built in 2025. It will cover about 70% of the houses in Dominica. We’ll pursue the second phase once we complete the first phase and it will cover all the households in Dominica by the end of 2030. We are building a 10-megawatt plant for geothermal energy which will have enough to supply locally and even to export in the future. We are looking for investors. This megawatt plant is being built by an American company and we’re looking for more investors because we have the potential to expand in that area.

What major connections does Dominica have with the US and how are you working to get more connections?

The American Airlines flight came to our doorstep at the right time. We connected with the envoy team who recently has taken over operations of Miami Airport. They were rethinking their strategy and decided to give a greater focus to the Caribbean. This has been a game-changer. The number of visitors we had from the US market before the flight was about 13% of our total stayover arrivals and it moved to 33% in a short period. It was a significant growth in that market and it continues to be a steady growth.

One of the key things we also did, apart from getting that non-stop flight to Dominica, is restructure all the airline partners that offered connecting flights, so people will come to Dominica the same day. For example, if you travel on JetBlue, United Airlines and American Airlines, you can connect on Silver Airways and InterCaribbean Airways. We started service with Caribbean Airlines during Covid to give greater connection into Dominica. That has helped a lot by establishing the only nonstop flight to Dominica, which does extremely well for us. We’re so happy that in the winter season, from October 7th to March we’re going back to daily flights of American Airlines  – but also establishing same-day connections.

One of the critical things we are doing to increase the number of non-stop flights coming to Dominica is the extension of our runway. Our airline partners mentioned that our runway was slightly below international standards. We have increased it to surpass international standards. It will improve the safety of our airport. We’re also going to groove our runway. During times of heavy rainfall that will be easier, safer and more comfortable for landing. We have made this investment and we hope that by doing so, we’ll sustain the current non-stop flights we have and we will attract other airlines to come to Dominica. The runway is 98% complete. I’m hoping it will be completed by the end of the month.

Many people come to Dominica by ferry, especially people from Martinique or Guadeloupe. Ferry service is also a critical component of travelers coming to the island. We are even in discussions of building a new ferry terminal to improve their experience when they come to the island and make it bigger and more spacious.

Many destinations, including Dominica, have implemented citizenship-by-investment programs. Could you provide more details about Dominica’s program and the recent amendments made to this regulation in 2023?

Dominica has one of the most renowned and respected citizen-by-investment programs. This program has been critical to helping us achieve our vision. When our Prime Minister, Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit, initiated the program in 2008, we were able to incorporate an investment option, which was what we used to develop our hotel industry. Before this program, we had only 500 hotel rooms in Dominica. With the establishment of the investment option, we were able to encourage investors to be in hotel plans. As a result, rooms increased and we now have about 790 rooms and there are still some hotels in construction. We envision by the end of 2025 that we will be over 1,000. We were also able to improve our infrastructure, our road systems, to make it easier for people to travel, because Dominica is very mountainous. It’s not an easy country to develop because you have to cut through the mountains. But we have done a phenomenal job with our network. Also, in terms of our housing projects, ensuring that our people are safer, doing resilient housing for people.

It also helped a lot of small business investments. We were able to use that program to offer grants and loans at concessional rates to small tourism enterprises so they can make an investment and improve their tourism product and improve their facilities which has helped in the growth of the industry. Dominica’s industry is built on our communities, all our gems are residents in various communities. We believe that for the industry to grow and be resilient, we have to empower people. We’re able to use the funds from the investment program to empower people to establish better facilities, get more involved in the industry and ensure that our guests continue to have unique and superb experiences in Dominica.

We are improving on the legislation. For example, we made it more difficult for somebody to be able to change their name If you receive citizenship; we had to strengthen that legislation. Recently we signed an agreement among the Organisation of East Caribbean States members that we have the same legislation across the board. We have an agreement to share information; that helps strengthen the program. This program has been instrumental in transforming Dominica’s landscape and enabled us to rebound after Hurricane Maria destroyed our country. People take 25 years to recover and we did it in 5 years.

Digitalization and sustainability are all significant aspects for the tourism sector. Could you provide more details about the new tourism app announced in January that aims to make it easier for visitors to receive information on your country?

One feedback from visitors when they try to Google Dominica is that they get varied information on the island, so we thought it might be easier to have an app where we can have all the information they need, on how to get to the destination, including airlines, accommodation, things to do, places to eat in different communities, upcoming events like festivals. We have some great festivals on the island, like the World Creole Music Festival in October. It has been nominated as the number one festival in the region. It was too difficult for visitors to get information on the country. People wanted to come. But the information was scarce and there was confusion between Dominica and the Dominican Republic.

You can fill out immigration forms online already, in advance, to come to Dominica, so you have a seamless process for the airport. We are constantly working on improving to make it as seamless as possible. That’s why we felt the app was critical. We are in the final stages of development and we hope that we can launch it very soon.

The tourism sector is a crucial driver for Dominica’s economy. Has a new national master plan been developed?

We have a 10-year master plan for 2020 to 2030. During Covid, we reviewed that plan. It speaks about our consciousness of the environment and our need to protect it because our beauty makes Dominica a unique and diverse island. Protection of the environment is key to us. Our people are critical and key to our success as a destination. We are undergoing a study right now to develop a Hospitality Institute for better training programs. We are also in discussions to establish and build a Culinary Arts Institute in Dominica. People can understand the different dietary needs of different visitors.  We have people who are vegan and may not be totally into the Creole, or different ways of creating those Creole dishes, so you can still meet the dietary needs of certain guests. We want people to have the best culinary experiences in Dominica.

We have a Marriott initiating construction. We have the Hilton Tranquility Beach Resort and Spa that is due to open next year and we have Sanctuary Rainforest Eco-Resort which is unique. We have a young population that is looking for jobs and trying to define themselves in the industry. We are partnering with Dominica State College to offer those opportunities. We also have scholarship programs. People would be able to have a particular  study to build their capacity so we can have more manageable positions in the tourism industry, not just at the lower levels, but can manage and operate a proper business. Dominica has a thriving entrepreneurship spirit; because of the small business grants that we give and the concessional lending of our Development Bank. People can invest in themselves, in their products and in offering different services.

We also have a Work In Nature program inviting people to come to Dominica to live in one of the safest destinations in the world. We are looking for more people to live and work in Dominica. You can simply apply online and get a work visa or permit to stay on the island for up to two years that can be reviewed and you can work here. You have no difficulty connecting while you’re here working.

Could you share a closing remark on Dominica’s tourism achievements and the future direction of the tourism sector in the country of the 365 rivers?

We are certainly proud of our achievements. It shows that people understand our commitment to the environment, our nature brand and our eco-friendly practices. It is one of the things that we will stress in our accommodation to adopt more equal-friendly practices so that tourists can be more responsible when they come to Dominica. We’ve been receiving a lot of accolades for our resorts, whether it’s Coulibri Ridge for being one of the first fully sustainable world-class resorts because you’re totally off the grid or being at Jungle Bay which offers a luxury jungle feel and great adventures, or small accommodations, whether you want to sit on a hammock in the mountains or have great adventures on the water or land.

As for the major capital investments we’re making, we are building an international airport, which will bring more non-stop flights from the US market, but from other major source markets like the UK, China and Dubai. We are also going to build a new ferry terminal, a new cruise terminal because we want to improve the experience that cruise passengers also have in Dominica. We are building the longest detachable cable car in the world which goes to the second largest boiling lake in the world.

Apart from our unspoiled beauty, the capital investments our government is making and the investments we are making in our people, means I believe Dominica will continue to be a leading green destination in our region and that is what we want to be going for. Many visitors are coming to Dominica and say Dominica is the best-kept secret.