The relevant comparison is with the rest of the world where the global competition for investment is being waged in terms of efficiency and rates of return. We must therefore set our eye on world standards if we as a region are to compete with the world. It is generally understood that hotels, which constitute most of the private sector investments in tourism, have quite low profitability in the Caribbean. This is so despite comparatively high prices. The efficiency and cost of domestic infrastructure such as seaports, airports, roads and utilities have a permeating influence on business performance.
Tourism is most dependent on efficient infrastructure operations at competitive costs to users.
For tourism investment to be more attractive and sustainable, vast outlays will be needed by most Caribbean countries to upgrade the supporting infrastructure. In some regards, we are fortunate to be able to spread the user-costs of such infrastructure across indigenous and transient tourist populations. Tourism offers us this valuable premium. Nevertheless, we must achieve higher efficiencies across the entire economy if we are to generate surpluses for expansion and growth. For the region as a whole, this constitutes the major challenge of the next decade.