Sargassum Swarm Took A Toll On Tourism

And it continued to pile up after July - and has only recently subsided. Today we spoke to the Executive Director via Zoom from Riyadh where he is attending a tourism conference. He said this year's sargassum load did cause cancellations: Jules Vasquez "How do you see it? The year that went, the losses or cancellations that occurred as a consequence of sargassum. And what can we do to mitigate that going forward?" Efren Perez, Exec Director - BTIA "Well, you know, sargassum had a huge impact. Again, in the traveler coming in, you know, hotels had a huge impact in losses. In terms of, of, of not only, the reservations part of it, but also from their own assets that they had within, within their properties. I mean, the loss is quantifiable. And nonetheless, I think moving forward from there, I think that, we are working very closely right now with Ministry of Tourism for us to be able to come up with a plan whereby, we prepare ourselves from now." "There is continuous dialogue, I can tell you, in terms of looking at the grander picture, in terms of how is it that we can collaborate again. Right now the key here is collaboration between public and private sector. It has to happen. You know, one cannot work without the other. And that's the reality of a private sector is the one who really pushes, and, and really is the, is the money earner for the industry." "And so there has to be, an area whereby private sector sits at the table, for us to be able to have that collaboration at hand, for us to be able to, to, to discuss ways in which, we can combat, the impacts of sargassum on our tourism industry, you know, be it through, getting waivers for, for members in the industry who already have machinery, who already have, investments that they've made, in terms of, of beach maintenance and cleanup." "But also the opportunities that lie ahead where, government can play a key role in terms of making greater investments for us to be able to mitigate the issues." Jules Vasquez "Will there be an emphasis on preemptive planning for the next sargassum season? Because we know it will come?" Efren Perez, Exec Director - BTIA "No, absolutely. I, like I said, I think the discussion has not stopped. You know, we're definitely working hand in hand right now with the Ministry of Tourism." "You know, I've had conversations with both CEO and Minister Mahler in terms of, you know, having, an opportunity right now, like you said, a breeding window for us to really look at what has what has worked and what hasn't worked in this past year, what starting to prepare from now. If we don't prepare from now, we will be at the same point next year where we were fighting sargassum, trying to figure out how we're going to clean up, and being faced to the impact that the industry has in terms of, you know, losing reservations and all, that they lost within, this past year."

Jules Vasquez
"How do you see it? The year that went, the losses or cancellations that occurred as a consequence of sargassum. And what can we do to mitigate that going forward?"

Efren Perez, Exec Director - BTIA
"Well, you know, sargassum had a huge impact. Again, in the traveler coming in, you know, hotels had a huge impact in losses. In terms of, of, of not only, the reservations part of it, but also from their own assets that they had within, within their properties. I mean, the loss is quantifiable. And nonetheless, I think moving forward from there, I think that, we are working very closely right now with Ministry of Tourism for us to be able to come up with a plan whereby, we prepare ourselves from now."

"There is continuous dialogue, I can tell you, in terms of looking at the grander picture, in terms of how is it that we can collaborate again. Right now the key here is collaboration between public and private sector. It has to happen. You know, one cannot work without the other. And that's the reality of a private sector is the one who really pushes, and, and really is the, is the money earner for the industry."

"And so there has to be, an area whereby private sector sits at the table, for us to be able to have that collaboration at hand, for us to be able to, to, to discuss ways in which, we can combat, the impacts of sargassum on our tourism industry, you know, be it through, getting waivers for, for members in the industry who already have machinery, who already have, investments that they've made, in terms of, of beach maintenance and cleanup."

"But also the opportunities that lie ahead where, government can play a key role in terms of making greater investments for us to be able to mitigate the issues."

Jules Vasquez
"Will there be an emphasis on preemptive planning for the next sargassum season? Because we know it will come?"

Efren Perez, Exec Director - BTIA
"No, absolutely. I, like I said, I think the discussion has not stopped. You know, we're definitely working hand in hand right now with the Ministry of Tourism."

"You know, I've had conversations with both CEO and Minister Mahler in terms of, you know, having, an opportunity right now, like you said, a breeding window for us to really look at what has what has worked and what hasn't worked in this past year, what starting to prepare from now. If we don't prepare from now, we will be at the same point next year where we were fighting sargassum, trying to figure out how we're going to clean up, and being faced to the impact that the industry has in terms of, you know, losing reservations and all, that they lost within, this past year."