27 November 2009 Hon. Glynis Roberts Minister for Tourism Ministry of Tourism Ministerial Complex Botanical Gardens ST. GEORGE’S Dear Minister Roberts Re: Inaugural Flight by Sunwing It is with great concern for the future of Grenada’s tourism industry that the Grenada Hotel & Tourism Association writes to express its displeasure with the treatment meted out to Sunwing Airline, on its inaugural flight into the Maurice Bishop International Airport, on Tuesday, 24 November, 2009. It is inconceivable that the aircraft should have been kept in a circling pattern, for approximately thirty minutes, while the daily runway inspection was completed. Surely with all the hype preceding this flight, someone somewhere, must have been informed of its scheduled arrival time, and one would expect that someone, would have ensured that the runway was made ready for landing thus eliminating a delay. Adding insult to injury, upon finally being allowed to land, the embarrassment to our country was compounded by the fact that there was not one single person to meet, and officially greet, the airline and its passengers which included, the island’s Consul General to Canada, Ms. Jenny Gumbs, Ramnairine Tiwari, President & CEO of Sunrise International Airways, and Niko Kosmos, Manager, Ground Operations, of Sunwing Airlines, who saw fit to grace us with their presence. In fact without the presence of a member of our oft times maligned media, who saw fit to step into the breach and welcome those on board, and later inform the nation of this historic event, even we in the industry would still be in the dark since, we had not been informed of the arrival date and time of the flight. The presence of two officials of the Grenada Board of Tourism in the Departure Lounge of the airport at the time of arrival, waiting to enjoy complimentary seats to Toronto on the return flight of the same airline, in order, we are told, to participate in scheduled tourism activities, quite clearly shows that the Board knew before hand, of the flight’s arrival. We find the reason given for the failure to afford the arrival of this flight the official welcome which was its due, on behalf of the people of Grenada, rather lame to say the least, and of even greater concern is the fact that the Chairman of the Board of the GBT had not been informed of the flight’s arrival time. If the staff of the GBT felt that, rising from their beds at such an early hour in order to meet and greet the flight was outside the realms of their capabilities, they need only have asked and they would have had many persons in the private sector offering to carry out their duties for them. We live in an age where the Government of Grenada spends a considerable amount of money for joint marketing of airlift into Grenada, or in the case of American Airlines, pay penalties should the number of passengers carried fall below a certain level, that, we should be thankful that Sunwing saw fit to service the island without asking for any compensation. We should also remember that there are many other islands that would gladly welcome such generosity with open arms. The GHTA feels most strongly that there is need to have a professional level of accountability; without this, we will continue to be seen as mediocre in an industry which requires perfection at the highest level. With power comes responsibility, and with responsibility comes accountability. We dismissed the last Attorney General for writing a letter which had no effect on the economy, and therefore we must ask ourselves what is a fitting redress for a fiasco such as the non event of this inaugural flight. Yours respectfully, Russell Fielden PRESIDENT cc Hon. Peter David Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr. Richard Strachan Chairman Grenada Board of Tourism Board of Directors Grenada Board of Tourism Board of Directors Grenada Hotel & Tourism Association Board of Directors Aviation Services of Grenada Ltd.