DESTINATIONS EXHIBITION REPORT
A Report for BBC World Service "Calling the Falklands" by Deborah Vogel 07 Feb 03
This is the time of year in chilly Britain that all the holiday ads start to appear on our television screens, and when people also flock to the annual Destinations Exhibition at Olympia. This year, though, on the Falklands stand at the show, there seemed to be a difference. People visiting it were generally more knowledgeable about the islands. And, in the current climate of war and fear of terror, there was a noticeable trend towards choosing destinations, which seemed far away from the world’s trouble spots, like taking a cruise to Latin America. Our reporter, Nikita Gulhane (NG), talked to tourism manager, John Fowler (JF) to find out how the Falklands fit into that scenario.
JF: As far as the big cruise ships go, we are not a tremendously significant port. We are a mid-way station. The typical swing is from Buenos Aires on one side of the continent through to Valparaiso on the other side. And, we are, I suppose, in competition with the various other small ports in places like Argentine Patagonia, where people will come ashore and spend some money and have a nice day. But not being either the starting or the ending ports. We can be dropped – we can be bypassed, as we know. What we have been trying to do to remain competitive is to improve our facilities for getting ashore and back onboard quickly. That’s a critical factor that the Captains are going to take into account, between staying with us, where we use launches or somewhere like Puerto Madryn where you can park in the middle of the town and people can step ashore. In that specific instance, we are competitive.
NG: Do you model the kinds of services, which you are providing on any other part of the world?
JF: I think one or two other parts of the world have provided us with warning signs, if you like. The Galapagos, for example, which we are often compared with and the people who like us say we are the new Galapagos. When you ask them what was wrong with the old Galapagos, they tend to say there are too many people. And, in order to deal with the fact that there were too many people going there, certain restrictions on visiting certain sites had to be imposed. Most of the touring in the Galapagos, around the nature sites, is done by boat and you have time slots. You wait around with maybe half a dozen other boats and you are told you can go in for your half-hour or hour or whatever it is for the landing.
NG: It sounds a bit like a conveyor belt.
JF: Yes, and we’d like to avoid that. One of the things we hope to say to people is they have space and they have time. If you want to spend all day until the sun hits a particular angle behind a particular penguin, which is doing a particular activity, then, fine, you can take that. And you have that particular opportunity in the Falklands.
NG: Well, if the Falklands appear to have the edge over the Galapagos in terms of a more personal experience, the same cannot be said of that given to land based tourists. According to Chris Breen (CB) Managing Director of Wildlife World Wide, the Falklands need to be much more flexible where transport is concerned.
CB: From a client on to you, in my view - and this has been recognised not only by me because I’ve been there and done it as it were – the negatives are the lack of facility to schedule flights between the Islands. This is something that the Falkland Islands have not got right, in my view. And, it means that people can end up spending comparatively short periods of time on certain islands when, in fact, they would hope to spend a longer period of time. You can be on the last flight into Sea Lion Island, have a three-night stop, and be on the first flight out. And, this is a serious error on the part of the Falkland Islands Government Air Service. We don't have this problem anywhere else in the world. In terms of the way that a non-voyage based trip works in the Falklands, it’s a direct equation the Oklavngo Basin in northern Botswana. There, it’s absolutely slick. There’s incredible energy in the way that the safaris operate. There is incredible energy with which the air charter companies transfer people around, to ensure the clients have the maximum wildlife experience. And, in the Falkland Islands, that does not happen. The wildlife experience there is exceptional, the guiding is exceptional but there isn’t the energy in the Falkland Islands Government Air Service to make sure that people are transferred in such a way that they will be able to maximise their wildlife experience.
NG: Something to push for then there, John.
JF: It certainly is and it’s that message we have been trying to push to FIGAS ourselves over a long, long period. We are getting better but there is still a long way to go. I would agree with what Chris says.
(100X Transcription Service)
