St Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association president Anthony Bowen can be counted on to make news almost every time he speaks to an audience. Yet, he is not ranked among the great orators of our times. His popularity has more to do with the brazen way he drops his words, often telling it like it is or the way he alone thinks it needs to be said. And given a room full of attentive listeners you can count on Anthony Bowen to speak his mind and make some uncomfortable in the process, as he did last Wednesday at the SLHTA’s 46th AGM.

Ahead of last week’s meeting, Bowen, who reportedly resigned as president of the St Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association sometime in July of 2009, had retained the leadership of the organization. His earlier resignation, if you were to go by what the news media was reporting had much to do with a letter Bowen penned to Sandal’s owner, Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart, to persuade him to reconsider a joint marketing campaign between Sandals and the government. What was not widely reported was that the approach to the deal by the executive vice president of the SLHTA Mchale Andrew and Bowen, differed.

Amid much public speculation and debate Butch backed out of the deal which would have seen the government contributing US$70,000 to the initiative and Sandals a little over US$1 million. The political ramblings and the negative publicity was what was perceived to have pushed Sandals to call off the deal even after counter persuasions by Bowen and the minister of tourism Allen Chastanet.

Following Bowen’s letter which was first made public in the Jamaica Observer of which Stewart is chairman, the Sandals owner still refused to reconsider the joint initiative, but said he would market St Lucia’s Sandals properties with his own funds. In August Bowen told one of our reporters, “I resigned effective immediately. I’ve been approached by some members of the board. I’m going away on a four-day break with my lovely lady to have a baby shower, around which time I will reflect and see whether or not I am needed as president of the Hotel and Tourism Association.” Well, not only did Bowen go away and have a baby shower, but he is now a proud groom to his blushing bride and his love affair with the SLHTA is still solid. But don’t think for one moment that he has gone soft when it comes to dealing with the issues as last week’s SLHTA AGM clearly showed.

During the open session of the meeting Bowen described the tourism product as woefully lacking and also touched on the subject of the proposed stimulus package for the industry and the problems of garbage and crime.

But it was what Anthony Bowen said at the closed session during his President’s report that raised several eyebrows and has drawn the ire of one member of the SLHTA, namely the Saint Lucia Air and Seaports Authority. The organization was part of Wednesday’s meeting where they too made a presentation to the body. However, Bowen apparently was not impressed with the workings of SLASPA and launched an attack saying; “the organization does not have the foresight to do what is required to facilitate the industry.” Bowen also informed last week’s meeting that SLASPA had refused access to drivers seeking to enter the port to obtain water, while cruise vessels were being provided with water and he also informed the gathering that SLASPA was not interested in resolving the taxi issue at the airport, without going into much detail.

Some in the room were taken aback by some of the unexpected statements coming from Anthony Bowen and were visibly uncomfortable. At the time, the head of SLASPA Sean Mathew was not present but Donna Regis, Director Marketing and Product Development at SLASPA, was. And even before the meeting’s coffee break BlackBerry smartphones went into action.
The response from SLASPA was swift. On Friday, Sean Mathew, General Manager and CEO of SLASPA addressed the comments in a letter addressed directly to the SLHTA head. The letter was cc’d to Guy Joseph, Minister of Communications, works, transport and public utilities, Allen Chastanet, Mchale Andrew and all board members.

“Dear, Mr Bowen,” the letter read, “it has been brought to my attention that several unfortunate remarks were made by you about the Saint Lucia Air and Seaports Authority (SLASPA) during the annual general meeting of the SLHTA.”

“While we understand the pressures that businesses are currently faced with please note that any attempts to malign SLASPA by you or anyone will not be tolerated,” the letter continued. Mathew went on to say that the remarks reported to him were particularly disturbing in light of the fact that SLASPA is a member of the SLHTA. “Any possible concerns,” he felt could have been dealt through “a sensible dialogue or phone call to SLASPA. Attempting to smear a fellow member during an AGM cannot and will not solve any problems,” Mathew wrote.

On the water issue the CEO of SLASPA thought Bowen needed to be educated. “Perhaps there is need to educate you on the role and function of SLASPA as it relates to the supply of water. I am not sure if you are aware but in Saint Lucia water is supplied by the WASCO. As it relates to their operation at the Castries seaport, WASCO operates and manages their facilities located at the port where water is supplied by their officers. This means that if their officers are not available, water cannot be supplied,” Mathew stated in his letter.

Access to the ports according to Mathew had to do with security and that access is granted after meeting strict security requirements. “Persons are not allowed access into the port if the service they require is not available, this would include the supply of water.”

On the question of water to cruise ships Mathew informed Bowen that this was a direct transaction between WASCO and the cruise lines and their agents. The letter ended with some choice words by Mathew to Bowen: “In closing may I remind you that SLASPA was formed on strong principles that have contributed to its successful performance from inception. To be portrayed as less than this is indeed unfortunate. We encourage all our customers which include several members of the SLHTA, to contact us directly with any concerns rather than to be misled by reckless and irresponsible statements made by persons who have clearly demonstrated a lack of understanding of the systems and structures within SLASPA.”

Top heads of the SLHTA met to discuss the letter and Bowen’s comments on Saturday. And while there were no immediate calls for Bowen’s head, several members were unhappy with the statements which some say were unfounded and have caused the organization some embarrassment. So will Anthony Bowen take another honeymoon after this one? Only time will tell.

(Read more on the SLHTA meeting in Thursday’s STAR)