We also had an interesting discussion with STAS, which is the only advertising/brand agency in Suriname. They are a private company but have worked with the government on branding Paramaribo as "The City of Smiles" as well as a new campaign around branding Suriname products with a 'Made in Suriname' logo. The logo will both build external awareness for exports as well as help Surinamese gain a country pride and hopefully get over the past and the negative brand image that the country has (thanks to the political executions in 1982). The thought STAS has for branding Suriname is "A Safe Getaway to the Amazon." They felt that culture and people aren't enough of a global draw, and if you look at a market like the US, Suriname is the closest access point to Amazonian rainforest. One other interesting comment is that there will need to be internal campaigns to educate Surinamese about welcoming tourists and helping to keep things (buildings, streets, parks, etc) clean and orderly (the Surinamese are apathetic to both things right now as a result of not knowing enough about tourism).
One thing that came up at multiple discussions is the end of year celebrations "Surifesta" as they are a huge draw with massive amounts of partying and fireworks during the second-half of December. The event is listed as #2 in CNN's Fantastic New Year's Eve Destinations (link). And we already know about it being #9 of Lonely Planet's Top 10 Countries of 2010 (link).
Tomorrow we start the first rounds of formal interviews with tour operators (VESTOR/Orange, METS, and Blue Frog Travel), hotels (Residence Inn), a company that helps people start their own businesses including in tourism (IntEnt), hopefully a taxi/shuttle (Tourtonnes Taxi & Airport Shuttle), and a "tourism reference" whatever that means. We will also have someone working with Nesseley to get information from MIST and any other reports that we have listed and don't already have.
John Kinney
Adding some points on John's memo, I believe the followings are points I found interested.
ReplyDelete+Tourism in Suriname is young industry and has rapidly grown in last several years.
(Capacity has doubled and the number of tour operator has tripled)
+However, the industry is not organized well.(there is related laws and rules , but in reality
these are not well implemented.) For example, there are a lot of informal tour operators
offering services to tourists at cheaper price. Some formal tour operators have been
taken customers by informal operators even though they invested in marketing to get customers
from out side of countries.
+Government has a good policy but the policy has not been implemented. (because of funding issue)
+Small amount of budget is a big issue for STS and other stakeholders to do marketing outside of
the country.
+Maroons are treated differently from other districts (politically and economically(tax)) <- complex issue
+Some districts(for example, Brokopond) are individually facilitating tourism by setting a new event and
investing facilities and committees.
+(From the interview with STAS) STS is not evaluated valuable among stakeholders in tourism industry
since they have limited budget and it is difficult for STS to do with its limited budget.
+Government has been reluctant to invest in tourism since it has better income source such as mining and
forestry.
I felt our project is really important to persuade government that the tourism is the industry worth investing
and it is good for the country in longer term perspective (in terms of sustainability).
Hiromasa