Are the achievements of the Tourism Corporation being hijacked?

Disquiet over the workings of DSM (Destination Sales and Marketing) committee is widespread throughout the tourism industry including their official body, the Tourism Industry Council.
Comment has come from sources in the industry who attended the Monday morning meeting at Muri Beach Club which attracted about 40 people. One said there would have been more but quite a few industry players are off the island at the moment. Nevertheless, it was good opportunity to hear what the industry issues were and the see the dynamics behind the scenes.
The recurring concern was that DSM gave only 8 hours notice when they sent out requests for accommodators and tourist related industries to reply in writing as to what ‘special’ packages they could offer as part of the UPGRADE campaign.
The short notice was not suitable for everyone especially if they were managers rather than owner-operators. Managers did not have the authority to create such specials and obtain approval within hours, whereas the larger resorts were able to do so.
The airlines are said that they had vacancies on planes that they wanted filled and asked what special deals could the industry offer to entice visitors to our shores and thus fill those empty seats?
The larger resorts that took part in the UPGRADE campaign are said to have achieved a good result – the issue with the rest of the industry, is that by the very short notice, the smaller players were not geared to take part and thereby missed out on the benefits.
There are even darker rumblings that some players may have had inside knowledge of the plans and were already geared up to take part while those not in the know were scrambling around.
There is also general confusion as to the role of DSM, understood to have been formed as an initiative by the Tourism Board and the Chairman, Tata Crocombe. Questions raised are whether DSM is purely advisory, or can they dictate the expenditure of budget from the Tourism Corporation?
The official reply is that DSM has ‘no authority as such’ because it is only advisory body.
At the recent Tourism workshop, the Cook Islands TourismCorp was lauded for its good work in raising visitor numbers to over 100,000 – a figure said to have caused consternation to our Tahitian ‘cousins’ who have a much larger budget but attracted 140,000 visitors.
Why then is there a feeling that somehow the efforts of Cook Islands Tourism Corp being hijacked?

Herald Issue 463 10 June
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