 |
 |
 |
| Caribbean Property Magazine Home / August 2010 / 'Caribbean Focus : Travel and Tourism Industry (a series)' | SEND THIS PAGE TO A FRIEND  |
 |
.jpg) |
| Classifieds in The Bahamas Classifieds in The Dominican Republic Classifieds in Costa Rica Classifieds in The Cayman Islands Classifieds in Antigua |
 |
|
REACH OVER 380,000 SUBSCRIBERS EVERY MONTH! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 FULL - LENGTH ARTICLES FEATURING YOUR PROPERTY! Tell YOUR story and get exposure! Sell your property or business (or business opportunity) through editorials and feature articles! |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
VISIT OUR ARCHIVES! Click here to explore our archived articles. |
|
|
|
TELL YOUR STORY! We want your articles, your stories, your experiences, your knowledge and your advice! Tell our readers what you have learned, what you love and what you think other people need to know about living, working, buying, selling, relocating and retiring in the Caribbean. |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
A comprehensive list of downloadable ebooks available from Caribpro. Titles include: |
 Retirement Planning For Offshore Living: Maintain and Enhance your lifestyles spending less than 25% of your monthly budget. |
|
|
|
|
|
Belize: Living There How to Live, Retire, Work of Invest in Belize. |
| Nicaragua: Real Estate Property and land bargain amidst colonial splendour. |
|
Plastic Surgery in The Caribbean: Inexpensive, High Quality Cosmetic Surgery. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Anguilla - Real Estate
Antigua - Real Estate Aruba - Real Estate Bahamas - Real Estate Barbados - Real Estate Bay Islands - Real Estate Belize - Real Estate Bermuda - Real Estate Bocas Del Toro - Real Estate Bonaire - Real Estate British Virgin Island - Real Estate Cayman Islands - Real Estate Colombia - Real Estate Costa Rica - Real Estate Cuba - Real Estate Dominica - Real Estate Dominican Republic - Real Estate El Salvador - Real Estate Florida - Real Estate Grenada - Real Estate Grenadines - Real Estate Guadeloupe - Real Estate Guatemala - Real Estate Guyana - Real Estate Haiti - Real Estate Honduras - Real Estate Jamaica - Real Estate Louisiana - Real Estate Margarita Island - Real Estate Mexico - Real Estate Montserrat - Real Estate Netherland Antilles - Real Nevis - Real Estate Nicaragua - Real Estate Panama - Real Estate Puerto Rico - Real Estate Roatan / Utila - Real Estate Saba - Real Estate San Andres - Real Estate St. Barthelemy - Real Estate St. Eustatius - Real Estate St. Kitts - Real Estate St. Lucia - Real Estate St. Maarten - Real Estate St. Vincent - Real Estate Tobago - Real Estate Trinidad - Real Estate Turks & Caicos - Real Estate Utila / Roatan - Real Estate Venezuela - Real Estate U.S. Virgin Islands - Real Estate Virgin Islands (British) - Real Estate List Your Real Estate In The Marketplace - List Your Real Estate In The Marketplace |
|
A U G U S T
 2 0 1 0 Issue 43
|
||
| CARIBBEAN FOCUS: TRAVEL AND TOURISM INDUSTRY (a series) An Open Letter to LIAT Airlines By James Post While LIAT (Leeward Islands Air Transport) is not the only airline facing delays in the travel industry, the manner in which they deal with the delays and resultant customer service issues is sometimes rather unique. After my latest episode of what I call LIAT ill-treatment, I’d had it with them, and wrote a letter to management in the hope that customer issues will be recognized and that changes can come about. As I was preparing a series of articles for this magazine regarding Caribbean travel and tourism, my letter soon became the core of my first article. As LIAT is an integral part of our Caribbean’s travel industry, I felt it apropos to share with readers my experiences along with what I perceive to be a serious, yet solvable, situation. Of course I’ve advised LIAT management that I am doing this so as to provide them a forum to reply to my letter as part of this article. Dear LIAT Management, Today I was flying on a supposedly direct 11 a.m. flight from Grenada to Barbados. After flying a short while the pilot announced that the airplane would land in St. Vincent and that passengers would need to check the service agents for further information. At that time we did not know we were in for a 12 ½ hours delay that proved to be unnecessary and caused many to miss their international flights – and, all without compensation. After arrival to St. Vincent, we were never informed as to what was going on; not the cause or the solution. The situation at the airport was no less than chaotic: service staff stated that they had no idea what was going on. Aside from the big picture not being clear it was soon clear that the small picture would not be handled well either as, for instance, it never occurred to LIAT staff that stranded passengers might be thirsty. When we asked about getting food we were told that we missed the opportunity to take lunch and that we therefore could not get any more … This was at 5:30 p.m. The other passengers and I were not aware that they could have, and should have, offered food. Finally, we could get a small sandwich and a soft drink at the airport restaurant; warm food was sold out - as the staff was apparently told to say. I noticed, however, that paying guests were being served hot meals. Almost nine hours after our unintended arrival in St. Vincent and after several promises concerning expected departure, a manager came to apologize for the delay saying that some aircrafts were grounded and that this was causing the problem. My belief is that extremely bad organization is more the problem. Besides that, he could not even provide us with an approximate take off time. The aircraft that made our landing in St. Vincent had no technical problem; it was used to bring other passengers to their destination. By taking this obviously wrong decision, LIAT’s management made the problem worse: they fill holes by creating others. It is not the first time that I experienced delays out of control with IAT and always without honest and realistic information, which indicates that this is a internal structural problem. Finally we were sent off to Barbados and arrived there well after midnight. Before departure a St Vincent manager had assured us our international flights had been rebooked and gave us the name of the Barbados manager who would give us further instructions and inform us of the hotel they booked us in at Barbados. When we arrived in Barbados, after having walked from the tarmac in heavy rain for five minutes as “it is too late for the bus service,” there were two more nasty surprises: 1. They had booked us in the cheapest guest house available – the establishment advertised renting rooms by the four hour period. If we wanted to use the A/C in a room, we had to pay $ 10 extra. The fan in my room did not work and the water only became hot after my shower was over. The LIAT manager had stated “this is the high season and all regular hotels are full.” Most travelers denied the offer and booked their own hotels. We came to find out that it was not true that hotels were full …of course. When confronted with this, the LIAT manager’s next excuse was that LIAT did not have “arrangements” with the other hotels booked. The passengers felt that this was another poor explanation and believed that LIAT staff are clearly instructed to save where possible and do not really care about the well-being of their customers. 2. Although I, and other travelers, had urged LIAT to notify the airlines that we would miss our connecting flight before departure of these flights, the St Vincent manager had assured us that the Antigua logistic department would take care of this in a timely manner and would arrange alternative flights. This appeared to be another work of fiction – or should I call it miscommunication - within LIAT. The Barbados manager stated that they did not have time to do this. Besides, he mentioned that LIAT had no “arrangements” with any of the airlines that the LIAT passengers were booked on. So, they denied responsibility. As LIAT failed to cancel the connecting flights these were formally no shows and most airlines only give you the option to buy a new ticket. Most passengers had to pay more for the one way ticket than they had paid for their return ticket – a common situation for last minute booking. I, and another passenger, were on American Airlines which finally allowed a complimentary rebooking on a stand-by basis. I should state that LIAT check-in agents were quite helpful to present our case to an American Airlines supervisor – but this was not because they were instructed hereto; I checked on that… |
||
|
||
|
||
| LIAT’s decision to park us in St Vincent for 12 ½ hours made me miss my meeting in Barbados, dinner with a friend in Miami and a stay at a prepaid four-star hotel. I then arrived in New York at late night instead of early morning and also missed my scheduled excursion and theatre arrangements. When traveling, delays happen because of force majeure and you have to accept the consequences in such cases, but in this case LIAT deliberately chose to ground us for planning reasons, treated passengers badly and did not provide information, while not assisting passengers with the problems they caused. In my opinion, that is nothing less than a shame. This open letter / article is also intended for the upper management of LIAT. They should understand the negative impact of this out of control organization: They have to pay for and book hotels, food & beverage (well, sort of) and should have rebooked passengers with connecting flights. All of this is not only merely a financial issue; it also consumes time from LIAT management and service staff as well. THE HOTEL INDUSTRY IN THE SMALLER ISLANDS AND LIAT NEEDS TOURIST TO SURVIVE. The Little Guy, AKA, the Customer Then there is the public image that I would think LIAT would be concerned about. While Caribbean people are responding relatively mild to this treatment (they are used to it and accepting as there is no other option)…there are the tourists. The hotel industry in the smaller islands and LIAT needs tourist to survive. And from what I overhear at airports and from my hotel guests, many tourists are outraged at their ill-treatment as well. They certainly pass along their tales of woe to others and this can result in tourists consequently preferring direct flights to the bigger, and better marketed, islands that already have the advantage of lower priced air connections. That certainly offers a huge disservice to the little guy, in this case, the little guy is the small island nations, the everyday Caribbean citizens trying to get to and from those nations and the tourists who have an interest in visiting those small islands. More Bad Experiences Unfortunately this was not the only negative experience I had with LIAT. Apart from frequent “regular” delays here are a few examples: • Lost baggage When connecting to an international flight in Barbados my luggage had not arrived. I gave LIAT my address in Europe but they failed to send my luggage. When returning from Europe I found the luggage in a storage place full of luggage of unfortunate LIAT passengers, many of them on flights long gone by. LIAT staff was not informed where my luggage was - I had to locate it myself. Not even an apology… • LIAT has canceled flights with the excuse of technical problems with the aircraft, causing passengers to miss connecting flights and appointments. I found out later from a LIAT employee that they sometimes cancel flights to optimize occupancy. However, I should mention that in recent years I have not experienced this. • I once had a paper ticket, issued by a travel agent. Upon arrival at the airport LIAT check-in staff said that I was not booked at the flight – even though I showed a confirmed ticket. Initially they said I would have to buy a new ticket and apply for a refund later (which I know would not get a response). Finally they agreed to put me on stand-by. They blamed the travel agent for this which was of course complete nonsense. • I booked a flight from Grenada to St Maarten via LIAT’s website, with a short morning connection in Antigua; I had printed the itinerary. Upon arrival in Antigua I was told at the transfer desk that my connecting flight to St Maarten was in the evening. I showed my itinerary – copied from their own website- but that did not impress the supervisor I had called as it was noted, “our system has the correct information” They also stated that the morning flight was fully booked but stated that a seat might become available in case of a no show. Finally, one seat became available and they offered me this seat – but only if I paid a change fee. They also said I was welcome to file a complaint with a customer service manager in Antigua and gave me an email address. Since I did not want to stay at the airport the whole day I paid the change fee and at the airport I wrote an email to the customer service manager. They never bothered to answer. Although I had specifically asked the check-in staff in Antigua to ensure my luggage to be on the earlier flight, they did not bother. After waiting two hours in St Maarten I finally located the LIAT service agent (gone for lunch?) and gave them my hotel information. Finally I had to pick it up from the airport myself and, as usual, without an apology. Just a bad excuse such as “we tried to call you.” When I asked them which number they tried they could not find it… • Several of my guests in Grenada, arriving on LIAT flights without their luggage never received their luggage until two and three days after arrival. I found out why: They collected late luggage until they had enough to contract a bus to “efficiently” bring the luggage around the island. What they really want –and what often happens- is that the luggage is picked up from the airport by the passengers. I could go on, but the conclusion is clear to me - LIAT is badly organized and has a level of disrespect for their passengers. They are a monopoly – and as such they don’t seem to care very much about their reputation, as one assumes this is because they believe that they are the passengers only choice. Perhaps LIAT could learn a lesson about how to treat customers from what was once the world’s biggest monopoly, A.T. & T. (American Telephone and Telegraph Company), who for the decades prior to their enforced breakup by the US government, were renowned as a corporate role model that offered superior levels of customer service, fair prices and observed exemplary corporate practices. If the world’s biggest private company could do it, why can’t a small (by comparison) Caribbean airline? Does LIAT Need Competition? Other airlines, including a low cost airline, have tried to enter Caribbean air space but were not successful; it seems that there may be some level of protection for LIAT. Meanwhile, tourists and Caribbean people alike suffer. Below I list some of the negative aspects of LIAT’s monopoly: • Higher prices have a wide impact: - Tourists often do not choose to go to Caribbean islands that have no or limited direct flights. At times LIAT’s inter-Caribbean flights alone cost more than flights from the US to the Caribbean. - Caribbean business people travel less than is actually good for the success of their business. - Caribbean private citizens travel less on personal business because they cannot afford the (too) high prices. The average low income in the Caribbean makes matters even worse. • Having NO competition does not force LIAT to provide a reasonable quality of service: - Travelers have no other option but to accept delays as there is no choice. - Competition forces airlines to efficiently expedite lost luggage – or lose customers. - Stranded customers – tourists and Caribbean people alike will not be treated fairly by LIAT without competitive pressure. LIAT may argue that the low cost model of airlines like Easyjet and RyanAir does not apply to the Caribbean as the demand is limited. But, many low cost airlines started out with small aircraft and as they grew upgraded to larger, more fuel efficient aircraft. However, on short distances the fuel cost would not be too dominant. Besides, working with more affordable prices would also increase passenger volume. Frustrating the Tourists In the past, when LIAT had competition from Caribbean Star, they had arrangements with international airlines to check luggage from origin to final destination. Thus, the tourists were not obliged – like now- to go through immigration, locate their luggage and go outside to check in with LIAT to their final destination. I have often witnessed discussions between international passengers who arrived with two suitcases and had to unexpected pay an excess baggage fee which they felt to be extremely unreasonable. THE REALITY IS THAT EXCESS LUGGAGE POLICY IS AN IMPORTANT REVENUE STREAM FOR LIAT. LIAT may argue that they have a 50 lb baggage limit because of the 50 passenger / 2,500 lb maxima. But the reality is that many passengers have lower weight luggage, which allows for more from other passengers. The reality is that the excess luggage policy is an important revenue stream for LIAT. Who Are the Victims? One thing is sure: thanks to this and other customer unfriendly policies, many tourists using LIAT do this only once. And everybody hearing their stories will think twice before they fly with a LIAT connection. This will reduce the volume to islands not directly served (enough) further and further. So, the victims are these islands and their hotel industry; but eventually also LIAT. But by the time the consequences become apparent it may be too late to change. And, last but not least, the victims are the Caribbean people who are severely restricted in their travel and travel choices. How Can LIAT Save the Situation? In my view, LIAT can take these steps to soften most of the issues: 1. Go through a serious reorganization The debacle of the rerouted flight to Barbados shows again that LIAT is currently not able to properly handle logistic problems and associated communications. Streamlining this would mean that the number of stranded or otherwise affected passengers will go down substantially, eventually leading to savings. My personal view is that the core of an improved logistic approach is to be solved with IT and automated communication systems, combined with a formal quality control systems such as ISO 9000. 2. Reduce prices A competitive level will lead to higher occupancy. Negotiate lower airport taxes in the Caribbean – justified by higher volume. 3. Implement customer friendly policies and procedures To regain traveler confidence it will be necessary to treat customers fair and with respect. If the above reorganization is properly implemented, irregularities will be limited and will (financially) allow LIAT to respond with proper compensation. - In the ‘ran out of hand’ situation described above it would have made a difference had LIAT provided water bottles and sandwiches to the stranded passengers, without being practically forced hereto by outraged passengers. At the very least that shows common courtesy. And when arrangements to provide these items are being made up front, it would not need to be expensive either. In the event of longer delays, provide vouchers for (proper) meals. - Inform customers honestly and in a timely manner about the situation. When a good logistic system is in place it will be feasible to predict delays with reasonable accuracy. Offer customers assistance in rebooking their connecting flights and make reciprocal arrangement with other carriers. - Once a formal quality control system has been implemented, delayed baggage will be less of a frequent situation, allowing LIAT to handle these exceptions better. Ensure that travelers are being informed in a timely manner, and deliver their luggage to their hotels or homes the day of arrival. - Make arrangements with international airlines to check the luggage of tourists to the final destination. This means that a customer with overweight / additional luggage will pay the international airline for the flight coming into the Caribbean, while LIAT will cash for the return flight. When these charges are in line with those of the international airlines, customers will not blame LIAT. - Communicate with the tourism communities and the public about the changes: before, during and after implementation. Although many at LIAT may think they are in a comfortable position because of the monopoly, the bomb they (maybe unknowingly) placed under themselves will explode sooner or later. Personally I hope LIAT will pick up the glove and take corrective action. If nothing happens, the only way is allowing competition. Prior to publication I sent this article to LIAT’s corporate communications manager giving an opportunity to comment on the issues raised in this article. Once that reply has been received, and with their permission, it can become part two of this article. I am looking forward to hearing from them soon! |
||
Author: James Post has held senior management positions with high tech companies in Europe, before moving to the Caribbean in June 2000 where he started a small resort in Grenada: www.paradisebayresort.net He is proficient in managing complex logistic and organizational issues. He is also a frequent flyer, travelling by air many millions of miles during the past several decades. He regularly publishes articles on travel, tourism, sustainability and energy efficiency. |
||
|
||
 |
||
 |
||
F E A T U R E S 
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Related Articles | ||
| July 0 | ||
| Caribbean Living : A Rare Retirement Alternative in Grenada | ||
| When you have lived the rat race and are ready to retire ….many of us want a nice climate, beautiful nature, clean air and a friendly, safe environment..you’ll find that and more on Grenada, where Paradise Bay Resort has developed a unique retirement alternative using its beautiful eco-oriented resort villa suites for retirees at rates so inexpensive that a pampered retirement in paradise is a dream you can easily fulfill. ---> Read More | ||
| June 0 | ||
| The Story of Paradise Bay Resort | ||
| Building in the Caribbean is challenging at best. This story describes the challenges met during the construction of a small sustainable resort in Grenada. It can serve as a tale of caution, and lessons learned as there are many pitfalls in the Caribbean construction industry. And there is a one of a kind opportunity to be part of a unique, beautiful sustainable resort project – that is built with standards in mind! ---> Read More | ||
| March 0 | ||
| The Caribbean Hotel of the Future | ||
| Hotels and resorts are known to be major electricity consumers. Unfortunately, relatively few efforts have been made to substantially improve on this. This article describes what options there are to save energy and generate green energy, while giving examples of resorts that are already making a difference and describing their plans for future improvements. In Caribbean island tourist destinations – that generally have no heavy industry- hospitality is responsible for the majority of energy usage ---> Read More | ||
| February 0 | ||
| How To Build Back Better in Haiti | ||
| In Haiti, Western-style construction standards virtually do not exist, this due primarily to lack of training, especially of the small contractors. The majority of the small contractors do not know why they build the way they do, and the poor people hire the small untrained contractors to build for them as there is always the overall quality/cost dilemma to deal with; the poor must always choose the lower cost, and therefore get dubious quality and materials. Sand and gravel are cheap; cement and steel are expensive. As sad as it is, people saved - because they had no choice, and did not understand the ultimate implications of building without proper knowledge and materials. ---> Read More | ||
| November 2009 | ||
| The Caribbean`s Chinese Connection | ||
| During the past decades China has grown from a relatively undeveloped country into the worlds largest production country. Consumers all over the world benefit from low prices for virtually all products. Small markets that did not benefit as much from Chinese � such as the Caribbean islands had to use a middleman to purchase their needs. Now, a company in Grenada found the solution to let Caribbean consumers benefit from Chinese factory direct prices - The China Connection to the Caribbean. ---> Read More | ||
 SEARCH OUR MAGAZINE ARCHIVES |
 contact us submit an article list your property list your boat list a cultural event advertise with us list your property rental |
| |