Nov. 9, 2006 — The No. 1 concern people have when choosing a vacation destination is "Is it safe?" That's according to Horace C. Hord Jr., regional vice president for Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises, who spoke to about 30 members of the St. Croix Hotel and Tourism Association Thursday night.
Hord then gave an overview of a project he helped organize on Aruba that caused a "dramatic drop in crime" in that island's tourist areas.
The project, which started in 2001 and was originally funded with a 1 percent assessment on hotel income, began in the high-rise hotel area and expanded to different areas across the island.
In addition to hiring security guards to monitor public areas, the project also called for a beefed-up police presence. Calling them the "visibility team," Hord said the unit now includes about 50 members. He said the team's primary aim is crime prevention.
Despite four years of expansion and success, Hord said the project this year was in a financial bind. He said retailers who had been contributing to the program — which has a budget of over a half-million dollars — had withdrawn their financial support. When asked why, Hord answered that the retailers believed it was the government's responsibility to keep the streets safe.
While admitting that he agreed with the retailers, Hord said it was unrealistic to expect the Aruba government to finance the program. "We saw that was just not going to happen," he said.
Hord said the second most important element people look at when choosing destinations is "product."
He commended the hotel and tourism association, which is made up of hoteliers, merchants, and other business owners, for its most recent marketing effort. He added, however, "It must be followed through on."
Debi Locke, chairman of the association's marketing committee, outlined that effort at the beginning of the meeting and noted that the V.I. Tourism Department had recently committed $50,000 to it. She also noted that Hovensa and Divi Carina Bay Casino had already committed $5,000 each to the island-specific initiative.
Locke added that the association has hired a knowledgeable, independent contractor to call on travel agents and participate in travel shows over the next five months. Although the program just started at the end of last month, the contractor has already been able to promote participating St. Croix businesses at a travel show in the Philadelphia area. To participate in the plan a business must pay $350, while hotels must pay $25 per room. The project now has more than $80,000 to spend.
Patrick Henry, association president, said, "That is a lot of money, but in a full-scale marketing effort it won't last long."
When asked when cruise ships might return more regularly to St. Croix, Hord did not give any concrete answers. However, he did say that cruise ship officials would meet with the new administration after it is installed.
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