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By Hilbert Haar
I understand the argument that the tourism industry ought to benefit St. Maarten, instead of foreign entitities. It sounds logical: tourists come to our island, they use our infrastructure and our beaches and they cannot have all that without paying for it. One could also wonder about the money shopkeepers earn by selling souvenirs. Who benefits the most? The retailer or the wholesaler?
Yeah, if it is the wholesaler and his company is established elsewhere then a lot of money is disappearing into the wrong pockets – at least, that is the way many people like to think. But is that really so?
Our retailers still make a profit on their sales; if they don’t then there is something wrong with their prices or with their business model. The government also picks up part of that money in the form of taxes. So in that sense, not every tourism dollar disappears into a big black hole.
Is there a way to keep more tourism dollars on board? Of course there is. Souvenirs retailers are now selling could be made locally. Tee shirts can be printed on our island. Why not?
Here is the thing though: all this requires skill. You cannot produce souvenirs out of thin air. To print tee shirts you need the right equipment (and therefore, capital). You need people who are capable of operating those machines. If we don’t have them, there is a solution too: train them.
During the years I have spent on our island I have heard many complaints about foreigners. They are taking all of the better jobs. They get better pay. They ought to go back to their own country. And so on.
My argument has always been: if you want that better job, you have to make sure that you qualify for it. If you want to deal with tourists in a meaningful way, make sure that you speak proper English. You need a service-oriented attitude. If you don’t have that attitude, or if you don’t want to master it, then you are not fit to work in that industry. Maybe you are not even a good candidate for cleaning hotel rooms because that job also requires a service-oriented mindset.
Looking at another sector of our economy – supermarkets – it is remarkable how many of these stores are operated by Chinese people. They are not taking away your job: these are people who do what it takes to survive. That is an admirable quality.
I mean, how difficult can it be to run a small supermarket? You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to do that.
The question on the minds of many people is this one: is there a way to improve our situation? My answer to that would be: of course there is.
Look at what others have that you don’t have in terms of skills and education. Once you have figured that out go and do something. Acquire those skills. Get that education. Take yourself to a level that is equal to that of all those foreigners you complain about.
Once you are on the same level you have an advantage because you are a local. When it comes to hiring people locals should get the advantage – provided that they have qualifications that are equal to those of foreign applicants. If you don’t have the required qualifications you cannot say that better qualified foreigners are taking jobs away. On the contrary. If you don’t put in the effort to get there, you lose your right to complain.
This brings me back to the premise I started with: the flight of tourism capital to foreign entities. Why does this happen? Maybe because those entities offer better prices, better service and better quality. Maybe these companies are much larger than a local competitor; or maybe the people who work there are smarter that locals who prefer complaining to elevating themselves to a higher level.
Nothing is lost; not yet. It can be done. But it all begins with education. If you are not willing to go there you will end up at the bottom. And you don’t want to be there.
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