Rafael Jackson wants to concentrate on tourism.
Gov. Charles W. Turnbull's choice as Tourism commissioner told the St.Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce Monday he would ask the Senate to change the law requiring him to serve also as chairman of the Port Authority and the Industrial Development Commission.
He can't do justice to tourism otherwise, Jackson told the luncheon meeting.
The 24-year veteran of tourism, who came out of retirement to answer the governor's call, outlined the problems facing the Virgin Islands, a territory terribly dependent on tourists for the bulk of its income.
He said he was concerned about the decline in cruise ship visitors to the islands, especially considering the size of the newer mega-cruise ships.
Part of the problem was the V.I. wasn't included in the new three- to four-day cruises that have become a trend. He said destinations such as Cozumel and the Cayman Islands, closer to the mainland, were cashing in on those shorter cruises.
"Awareness of the Virgin Islands is down," he said, adding that lack of advertising and marketing were not the only reasons for a decline in tourism.
Jackson said the infrastructure, particularly traffic congestion, was part of the problem. He said tour wholesalers most often complained about the traffic problems on St. Thomas. He also said with tourism being the economic base of the economy, it was important to heighten tourism awareness at home.
Jackson said a "people to people" program was being implemented on St Croix, where visitors would be invited to the island and would interact one on one with island residents.
In addition to an advertising campaign stateside, Jackson said, countries the V.I. formerly marketed, such as Argentina and Germany, would again be targeted for marketing campaigns, as well as Denmark and the Scandinavian countries.
Jackson said he was going to ask the administration to free up funds to open again off-shore offices for which the V.I. was paying high rent even though they're unoccupied.
Another problem that surfaced again during the Chamber luncheon was the high cost of airfare to the Virgin Islands.
"You can go to Europe for what it costs to come to the Virgin Islands," Jackson said, adding he was working on creating more competition by bringing in new airlines and getting some of the existing ones to increase service. He specifically mentioned Northwest and TWA as potential new carriers and said United Airlines was "toying with adding daily flights." Currently United flies into St. Thomas only on Saturdays and Sundays.
Chamber members were also treated to a peek at television and radio spots currently advertising the Virgin Islands on the mainland.
The three television spots, each one advertising one of the Virgin Islands, are designed to be like moving postcards, each having different copy specific to the particular island. They were produced by Ogilvy and Mather, the V.I.'s advertising agency, in only two weeks for $100,000.
The radio spots are a "weather report," telling listeners about the weather in the Virgin Islands.
In response to a question about landing fees as a deterrent to getting airlines into the territory, Jackson said the V.I. Port Authority had "bent over backwards" to keep its fees in line with those of other destinations.
Another effort being made, according to Jackson, involved educational seminars for travel professionals on the mainland.
