The tourism sector will not be a direct priority for Grenada’s government for the next five years but the industry should benefit from the six priority areas the administration will be focusing on, said Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell on Monday.
He told a town hall meeting that health and wellness; transforming the education sector with particular emphasis on youth and sports; agriculture, food security, and the marine economy; physical and digital infrastructure; culture and the creative economy; and energy transition and the environment will be the focus during his term in office which began in June.
Responding to a question why tourism was not identified as a priority area, he said: “Tourism was not mentioned because to some extent we think that tourism has been the industry that has been the focal point of Grenada’s development for the last 20 years perhaps and we believe that the areas we have identified will, in fact, help to strengthen and transform the tourism industry to get to a place where it needs to get.”
Explaining that link, Mitchell said the transformative initiatives in the six priority areas will make Grenada’s tourism product more attractive.
“So, when we talk about transforming our health care services, that is directly linked to transforming our tourism, because I can tell you if I was a wealthy tourist and I heard that the hospital service is not so good…I will think twice about coming,” he said.
“If I am a returning national and I have to jump on a plane to get back to Canada or get back to New York or Atlanta to get a routine medical checkup, I will think twice about coming here to Grenada,” he added before disclosing that a new hospital will be built on the island.
The prime minister did not provide details of the location and source of funding.
“Tourists tend to be adventurous when they travel, someone is more likely to think about cosmetic surgery when they travel, they are more likely to think about some tummy tuck when they travel, so if you really want to promote tourism or health tourism you kind of need to fix the healthcare and get it to world-class standards and that is how you promote another aspect of tourism,” he added.
Mitchell said the island’s beaches and waterfalls are not enough to take the industry forward.
“The reality is if the health services are not at the standard that [they need] to be then our tourism will, in fact, be stagnant. The same goes for culture, the arts, and the creative economy. People don’t just travel for travelling’s sake; they want an experience, they want to learn, they want to experience something,” the prime minister said.
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