Business View Caribbean - July 2015 65
here on the mainland. So energy costs are a huge is-
sue. Airlift is a huge issue – we need to bring more air
service, supply, into the islands and it’s not just from
the U.S. or from Latin America, but inter-island flights
as well. There’s a great opportunity for us, especially
in the off-season when someone from New York isn’t
flying into St. Lucia, to make it easier for someone from
one island to pop over to another one, without having
to go through Miami or San Juan first. I think that’s a
huge part.
And the last part is sustainability. Everybody knows
that sea levels are rising and we need to make sure
that the footprint of the individual islands, and the re-
sorts, and the impact that we’re having on our com-
munities, that we’re going to have something for the
future generations. Everybody’s concerned about
sustainability, everybody’s concerned about their op-
erating costs, especially energy and airlift. I would say
those are the three big ones.
BV: Are there certain destinations that you feel are
going to be a lot more high profile a few years from
now? A lot more popular than they are now? What
are some of the emerging places that you’re starting
to see more traffic?
VASSER:
From one angle, development, you’re seeing
a huge amount of new development in St. Kitts and
Nevis, but Sandals and their group are building proper-
ties all over the region. I think everybody has taken this
opportunity to reinvest in their product, and I think the
governments are very attuned to making development
easier throughout the islands. What we need to do is
make sure supply doesn’t exceed demand. From my
point of view, what do we need to do to make the Carib-
bean more accessible from these emerging markets?
Again, I’ll point to Latin America, but I’ll point to Asia
as well. Obviously North America and Europe are al-
ready major markets for the region right now, but with
how close we are to South America, it’s just a natural. I
