BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - A veteran tour operator is complaining that a number of unauthorized individuals have been soliciting tourists at Port Zante for a special group of tour operators.
This, which SKNVibes understands should not be tolerated, has been a frequent practice for a number of months, leaving some operators up-in-arms about the situation.
Michael ‘Big Banana’ Bridgewater, who has been plying his trade for a long time, revealed to this media house that a number of people who have been authorized to act as interpreters have now moved onto the Port to solicit passengers, thus leaving other operators at a disadvantage.
The often vocal tour operator explained that the interpreters were given government-issued IDs to operator only within the vehicles of the individual tour operators with whom they ply their trade.
He noted that he often pays in excess of $200 for a taxi and business license along with having his vehicle insured, with the translators only having to secure an identification card. He said this is unfair to him and others who are toeing the lines.
“Now the rules of the government says that if you have a drivers permit to drive then you’re not supposed to solicit on the dock. If you are translating for someone you’re not allowed to be on the dock, but rather in the vehicle translating.”
Bridgewater recounted that at the end of last year or the beginning of this year, he penned a letter to the St. Kitts Tourism Authority (SKTA), where he informed of several encounters with tourists and translators, especially those from Santo Domingo.
“Every week there is a parade down there, and every week they said that they are going to do something about it but then after they say they can’t do anything about it.”
He recommends that the Tourism Authority begins looking into the matter and withdraw the IDs of those who are in breach of the rules.
“It is simple because, if you issue me with an ID and I am not cooperating, then all you have to do is take it back.”
A recent visit to Port Zante during one of the very busy days where several ships were docked, SKNVibes saw first-hand how several of the said translators were soliciting passengers.
However, this did not raise an eyebrow with security on the Port at the time, nor did anyone seek to question the interpreters’ presence on the Port at that time.
The Ministry of Tourism and the Tourism Authority have, over the last two years, sought to remedy problems with business operators, along with taxi and tour operators who ply their trade from the Port Zante end.
Many measures have been put in place, and are still being implemented to quell problems being reported by cruise visitors to the island; many are reported on the international stage via trip reviews.
SKNVibes made attempts to contact the Tourism Authority's Public Relations Officer - Saju N'Gala - about its take on the complaint, but these have yet to be successful.
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