Tourism is not our most important product. On St. Thomas it is our only product. Thus it is frightening that the agency responsible for its promotion is leaderless — and due to controversy over the last several months, has been for a while.
So now that the last nominee to head it has been rejected, who is going to take the helm?
No offense to Monique Sibilly-Hodge, but it seemed clear from Gov. Charles W. Turnbull's press release naming her acting commissioner that she is not his choice to fill the post permanently.
We, like others, have been wracking our brains to think who is qualified — really qualified — to head one of the territory's most important departments.
We do not need another political appointee in that position. We need someone — as they say in want ads for salespeople — with a proven track record.
We need someone with many years of successful hands-on experience in the area of tourism promotion and marketing.
Some have suggested that the department needs to become a semi-autonomous agency. We don't disagree with that. But it isn't going to happen soon enough to save us for the coming summer or even the 1999-2000 winter season.
The governor needs to find someone who can get his or her hands around this product and market the daylights out of it.
We need someone who can stand up to the incredible competition out there and bring the Virgin Islands back into the marketplace in a prominent position.
And we need someone who can rally every person in the department — and their partners in the private sector — to make it work. We cannot afford any more divisiveness or controversy. We have wasted a lot of precious time.
We implore the governor to step outside of the political area and hire someone as Tourism commissioner who is truly qualified – perhaps even over-qualified – for the job.
