ArchiveTHE CARIBBEAN MARINE ASSOCIATION RECOGNISES NEED FOR CRITICAL DATA IN ASSESSING ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE MARINE SECTOR IN THE REGION
The Caribbean Marine Association (CMA) recognises the need for capturing current economic data for the marine sector. The last formal survey of the regional marine sector was undertaken by UNECLAC in 2001 “Yachting in the Eastern Caribbean, a Regional Overview”.
While this report remains a useful source of baseline information; since its publication, a decade has gone by and several noticeable developments to the marine industry have taken place, including development of marinas, changing of national yachting policies and introduction of marine training institutions in CMA Member States. Current data is required in order for the CMA to accurately develop policy and positions to accurately reflect the current state of affairs in the industry.
Through the technical assistance from the CDE under the project “Capacity Building of the Caribbean Marine Association (CMA) for Policy Dialogue and Promotion of the Sector towards the Goals of Many Islands, One Sea”; one of the components, was the development of survey instruments and gathering of yachting data through the conducting of surveys in participating Member States. The budget for this component was six thousand Euro (€6,000.00) and the implementation period was 3 months, from May to July 2011.
The overall objective of this data collection initiative was to enhance the profile of the yachting industry through the collection of data to support the industry’s economic contribution to Member States. The survey objectives were as follows:
• Obtain robust yachting expenditure data for each of the participating national associations
• Strengthen the capacity of national associations to conduct yachting expenditure surveys
• Promote collaboration between the national associations and the national tourism authorities
• Harmonize the collection and presentation of yachting expenditure data.
• Prepare a solid foundation for eventual economic impact studies
Some information and data collected from a few participating Member States, however, the information gathered was far from comprehensive and exhaustive. There were several challenges faced in the implementation of this component:
• Timing and time limitations: The CDE project was implemented between January and September, with the surveys conducted from May to July 2011. This proved a constraint as this time of year is a slow period for arriving yachts to the Caribbean as it is during the hurricane season. Also a three month survey period was not deemed extensive enough to capture the optimal number of yachts.
• Funding: there was limited funding for the conducting of the surveys and this may have impeded the ability of the Regional Survey Coordinator to fully engage all key stakeholders; it limited the hiring of dedicated interviewers and fieldwork required for the optimal capturing of data
• The surveys were conducted through national yachting associations however due to human resource and time constraints, these partners may not have had the capacity to undertake the surveys
In moving forward, the CMA must embark upon a follow up project in order to collect the data required for the capturing of economic and tourism data for the development of strong policy and lobbying positions for the industry.
The future data collection project should include the following components to ensure its success and validation within the industry:
• Collection over one calendar year, with focus in different Member States during their most active seasons
• Preparation of modified surveys depending on target interviewees and market (e.g. Industry focussed survey for Trinidad and Tobago vs. Tourism oriented survey for the Bahamas)
• Securing adequate funding for the facilitation of the Regional Survey Coordinator to meet with key stakeholders and to hire dedicated interviewers for each participating Member State
• Inclusion of a validation workshop for key private sector and policy development stakeholders to introduce, validate and develop policy decisions for the industry
The development of survey instruments and collection of data component of the CDE project was not completed in its entirety, however there were many lessons learned and the CMA considers this to be a baseline for the development of a longer running and more comprehensive data collection project, which will be developed further in the CMA’s work-plan.
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