Decisions in Paradise Part III

Decision in Paradise:

For Kava, we proposed development in the field of tourism since we had limited options like choice of opening a hospital, investing in tourism development etc. we decided that the best way Kava could be developed and our organization could have a more meaningful presence in this small land was by focusing was the development of tourism industry.

We must make it clearly that the choice of our course of action was dependent on one very clear-cut reason; we wanted to leave behind a legacy. We understand that by investing in Kava we can leave an indelible positive mark on the society, culture and economy of this country and we would like that very much because if we have a presence in this land, we just might also make it meaningful and worthy of people's respect and trust.

However like in any other developing nation, Kava is fraught with basic infrastructure and support problems. Before starting anything, one needs to take into consider the political, social and economic fiber of this country. How would Kava's people respond to our decision, will we find adequate support or not, what will be our starting point etc. We thus studied the decision from various angles and dug out the possible challenges we can face and the solutions to them.

The factors that will be affecting the proposed solution in our case are as follows:

a) Poor tourism infrastructure

b) Health concerns

c) Technological issues

d) Lack of agencies support

In the case of Kava, we know that tourism can work wonders for the development of this otherwise very poor and deprived part of the world. With more tourists coming in, enough revenues can be generated to invest in the development of the country's infrastructure. But there can be few factors that would affect our proposed plan and its implementation. While we do have government's support, we need support from other agencies as well and this might become a problem since not too many people in this part of the world trust foreign-companies especially large foreign concerns like ours. They always have certain degree of distrust for foreigners and this can hinder smooth implementation.

Health concerns are serious in this country since HIV infection is always a major threat. We know that this can affect tourism industry as tourists might refrain from coming to Kava because of HIV issue. We need to work on this seriously since all our efforts in shaping up the tourism industry would go to waste if tourists are scared of HIV or other diseases that affect Kava.

Technological backwardness is another major factor. To improve the tourism industry, we would need better technology and will also have to use the Internet more. We still need to assess the correct technological support available in this country but we have not yet observed anything spectacular in that area.

The entire tourism infrastructure is almost dead. We need to blow some life into this as we notice how poorly the entire tourism industry works. There are no special offers and events for tourists, no tourist guides and buses to help visitors around, and no serious maintenance work being done on major tourist attractions. Even the beaches do not seem very welcoming because of lack of the "fun" factor. The country needs a complete overhaul of the tourism sector. The sector is highly neglected because country is focusing on other more pressing issues and has pushed tourism far behind on its list of priorities. We need to address numerous problems before we can execute our proposed solution. The health concerns are many and must be properly handled. For this we will need support of various agencies. We are also concerned about corruption within political circles that might affect the implementation process since bribery and nepotism are common in small islands like Kava.

Apart from these factors affecting the proposed solution, we find that the same factors can hinder the entire implementation process. From our end, we will be able to get approval to go ahead with the plan but we can foresee some problems during the implementation stage.

The one thing that is good about our decision is the fact that once we have worked on the tourism industry, it will continue to benefit the country long after we are gone. In other words we are trying to build a solid foundation for country's future success with or without us. I hope that people of Kava can see the sincerity behind our actions and truly appreciate it.

Ethical concerns are also an issue since we will need to take into account how our decisions would affect the people of Kava. Kava is a small island which falls into the developing category. We understand that there is a love-hate relationship between the developed and the developing world where the former has often patronized the latter and the latter has harbored serious suspicions about the motives of the former. For this reason, we must not ignore the ethical concerns such as who to employ when job opportunities are created and how to engage the underage population without breaking any international labor laws. We need to engage underage people mostly those above 13 because the country needs a more energetic workforce. And since Kava is a poor country, its people generally start working early. We would want to work along with them in an ethical manner. We have come to understand that people in developing countries have very sensitive relationship with the developed world. They see every new action with suspicion and wonder about the possible motives.