Development Bank holds second taxi and tour operators’ workshop

Workshop facilitator, Ms Sybil Welsh.

Basseterre St. Kitts (February13, 2012) — The secret to financial success lies in one’s ability to understand what they are selling. Ms Sybil Welsh, a financial consultant has advised taxi and tour operators that it is not transporting services they are selling to visitors, but rather “memories, yourself and St. Kitts and Nevis.”

Ms Welsh who was one of the two facilitators at a taxi and tour operators workshop organised by the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis and the St. Kitts Tourism Association Thursday evening (February 9) at the Port Zante Arrival Hall in Basseterre told the operators that “the information that you give about St. Kitts and Nevis must impress visitors to explore more sights and activities and return to St. Kitts for another visit with you as the taxi/tour operator.”

Mr. Faron Lawrence, the second facilitator, advised the operators that coming up with creative ideas would lead to their being in the business even when the economy is down. He told them that creativity starts with separating themselves from the pack and to offer a service that is different to what everyone is doing or offering. He gave them a few tips that were well received.

Held under the theme ‘Manage your Money, Grow your Business’, it was the second in a series of workshops organised for taxi and tour operators by the Business Support Unit of the Development Bank with funds from the Centre for the Development of Enterprise (CDE), which is a European Union (EU) funded institution, to enhance the Bank’s ability to offer technical assistance to its small and medium size enterprise clients.

According to the head of the Business Support Unit, Mr Shavon Douglas, the Development Bank is pleased by the support it has received from the Ministry of Tourism and International Transport, which was represented by the assistant Permanent Secretary Ms. Ms Diannille Taylor-Williams. He said that plans are at advanced stage to hold a similar workshop in Nevis.

Some of the taxi/tour operators at the workshop.

Taxi operator Mr Alphonso Martin, better known as The Big One, congratulated the Development Bank and the Ministry of Tourism for holding the workshop. Lamenting the low turnout by taxi and tour operators he said: “We should have had a better figure than what came tonight. What we learnt here has taken us down a road that I was looking for, for the past 15 years and now I happen to see something like this happening tonight.”

Another taxi operator, Mrs. Ivy Adams, said that the session “was very educative and enlightening. I say when you are doing anything, you try to do it in the best way; and in any way possible you can put a spin on anything to make yourself better. It is good and that is the same thing Mr. Faron Lawrence was talking about and that is my goal of doing things.”

On behalf of the Ministry of Tourism and International Transport, and the taxi/tour operators who participated in the workshop, assistant Permanent Secretary Ms Diannille Taylor-Williams, thanked the two facilitators, Ms Sybil Welsh and Mr. Faron Lawrence, for a very informative presentation “and everybody here you will agree with me that we learnt something.”

The assistant Permanent Secretary said it was her hope that she would see the changes in the persons who attended the workshop, “as testimony to having learnt something new and testimony to what an excellent presentation we had this evening.”

Also present at the workshop from the Development Bank were Mrs Vernitha Maynard and Ms Jasmine Primus of the Business Support Unit, Ms Tamara Herbert a Credit Risk Analyst and Mr. Eldean Huggins, MIS Support Officer.