It’s all about the experience

It’s the experience, stupid!

This was actually the title for one of the sessions at the recently concluded Caribbean Tourism Organisation State of the Industry Conference (SOTIC 2013), which saw regional and international travel and tourism experts meet to discuss a myriad of issues affecting the sector, as well as possible opportunities toward which the region should be focusing its direction.

According to Aviation Consultant and Former CEO of Air Jamaica Limited, Bruce Nobles, regional airlines could play a greater role in adding the visitor experience, using something they ought to have a competitive advantage in.

Using culture to your advantage

Nobles noted that one of the things which made the Caribbean unique was its culture. However, he argued that we were not successfully using it to our advantage in the aviation industry.

“What airline truly represents the culture of the Caribbean?” he asked.

“When I was chairman of Hawaiian Airlines, I made it the Hawaiian airline. When you got on that airplane, you were already in Hawaii – the flight attendants were dressed in traditional Hawaiian outfits, the music and the meal service were all authentically Hawaiian – so you started your trip on the flight ... but who does that in the Caribbean? Nobody. The American Airlines, the Deltas, the British Airways, they are not going to do that, they just bring people, but they don’t start the authentic experience that only you can give,” he charged.

When asked what type of business model the regional airlines should adopt, Nobles said that it definitely had to be low-cost, but not necessarily very low-priced. It had to provide a quality product which ensured people received value.

“We can’t get away from the fact that the aviation business is a very expensive business with high fixed costs regardless of if people fly or not,” he remarked, further adding that people would be willing to pay what they had to as long as they felt they were getting good value for the money.

“If you can provide a safe operation that goes where people want to go [and] when they want to go, well-trained, friendly employees, with some kind of cultural advantage and a good value for the money, then of course people will fly,” he said. (RA)