Dawn Beach:--- The Chief Executive Officer of British Airways Keith Williams called on hoteliers to make customer service their number one priority if they want to maintain their clientele. He said the Caribbean region has to continue to work hard to maintain its ratings as one of the most popular destinations. He said when the price is right only then people are prepared to travel and everything depends on the quality of service that is handed to consumers.Williams said businesses today should put their customers at the heart of their business since customers are hard to get and to maintain due to the intense competition in the market in the tourism industry.
Williams was the keynote speaker at the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) State of the Industry Conference which currently being held on St. Martin. Williams tackled four points in his address on Friday. He addressed the state of the economy, current issues within the aviation industry, British Airways action plan and other factors that are impacting the industry.
The British Airways CEO said that the Caribbean is in fact their favorite destination but so far there is no decision as to if and when they would consider St. Maarten as their next route. Williams said predictions were that 2010 was going to be a difficult year for traveling and that was indeed the case, however, the industry began recovering in 2011.
Representatives from Redjet, Virgin Atlantic, LIAT, Virtuoso and Jet Blue made presentations at Friday's meeting.