Observation and Opportunity

Pictures are deliberately left out of this post so that you'd want to visit and experience it for yourselves! 

With the recent global events, media around the world has been providing us with stories where we were presented with the growing problems, the impact and challenges which many are facing. Just last week, I happened to be on one of my media channels where one of my friends, posted what he entitled, "a rough day at the office".

The pictures were wonderful! Even though I too live within the Caribbean, I had never seen photos like that; and I see quite a few. Picturesque and peaceful; I was immediately filled with a sense of calm.

So wonderful were the pictures that they generated lots of topics for me from a holistic standpoint which included business. I paused for a moment to think of experiences I've had in the Caribbean. How my thinking changed when I visited each of the places I've visited. As an aside, I pale in comparison to some of my dear friends who take me on excursions around the world with their camera lenses. I see other places up close without the help of National Geographics, and some of my friends become quite immersed in the places they visit, which make the pictures so much more appealing.

Then it hit me.

Most people in the world in experiencing stress, uncertainty, made to feel unappreciated despite their contributions to their "homes". There is major displacement. Tensions are high. Hatred is real. 

Though many would think as I once did that the Caribbean is similar, like I once did, they would be pleasantly surprised to experience the diversity of the Caribbean. They could visit for the next 10 years, just to pull a figure, and not have the same experience as they visit all the various islands within the region. From luxury to rustic, with foods that reflect global cultures with a Caribbean spin; this region has it all.

You can visit all the islands in the chain of the Caribbean islands, and then if you look from the sky, you'll see there's a pendant which was once a transshipment point historically and in some circumstances still functions as such today.

Whether you as I would say, "fly over, drive through, sail around or dive under", the Caribbean makes great memories.

The people are wonderful in their own way as well. Expressing love, affection, gratitude and hospitality in the ways they know best.

As a region, it's time to use the services of those trained and educated in the micro and macro levels of tourism, business development, events, and hospitality to create a travel plan for the visitors to the Caribbean. Not the stuffy programs that are known from the various tourism authorities, but the creation of a type of organic tourism which transcends politics, nationalities, ethnicity, and in some cases even tradition.

With the use of the social media, we can enlighten those who are feeling negative feelings of any sort to come and relax in our beautiful environs and just relax, learn, and enjoy that life is not all bad filled with high pressure; but it is wonderful and fulfilling.

When we think that what others have as screen savers of paradise is where we live. Can we not endeavor to share this with the world. They will thank us for doing so, I'm sure.