Caribbean paradise needs a beautician

By Cdr. Bud Slabbaert

Destinations that ignore or neglect beautification will not make it in any top-five or even top-ten rankings and will just be considered ordinary and mediocre. Such will become their reputation and they will not attract more visitors regardless of how high the tourism promotion budget is.

The prefect paradise destination doesn’t need much of a budget, because the dream bliss will be cherished by eagerly visiting travel journalists who are writing articles with the most amazing expressions of adoration. Their word gets out to broad audiences that are interested in finding the sizzling hot-spot for a next vacation, or maybe even interested in a form of investment for repeat visits.

The published awesome descriptions of the reporter’s experiences will stick in the mind of potential visitors like a stroke of magic. The preference and subsequent arising demand will be noticed by travel agents as well as the route analysts and planners of airlines. Courting travel agents and airlines which some consider the right strategy, may be a weak effort if the destination’s tourism product is just about average or less. At the end is all about what individual visiting guests desire and yearn for, a tropical paradise.

The destination beautician is the person whose job it is to improve the appearance of the destination by using the beauty features of nature. This beautician is the angel from paradise who will be the guiding light for the stakeholders of hospitality and tourism at a destination. The beautician is a nature aesthetician who focuses on keeping a destination looking phenomenally idyllic, with a view to establishing the meaning and validity of the dream of a lifetime destination for stayovers, as if it is to be applicable to the fine arts of life.

Unfortunately, no destination has such an explicit paradise beautician on the payroll or as a consultant. Probably never thought of it that such a person could exist who could actually do some magic that others lack. Maybe creating such a proficient position should be a top priority to advance uniqueness, class, and style for increasing a destination’s attraction level. The beautician can be a stylist to create a particular kind of stunning magnificence of a destination that may set it apart from others.

The valued wealth of a destination lies mainly in its natural beauty. The dream getaway par excellence must be the embodiment of the ultimate tropical paradise retreat with breathtaking decor and scenery, reminiscent of the natural beauties displayed by lush verdant vegetation and tropical flowers galore. Look around you. Is that what you see now? What is missing? Maybe an ecosystem depicting grace, serenity, sacredness, and beauty at the same time?

People are living in a world that ought to be better and they need help to find a way. When times are rough, an escape is desired. All the unpleasantness of the world can best be forgotten in the beauty of nature! People want to rejuvenate; the word rolls off the tongue easily, like a gentle tropical breeze. Nothing makes its way more directly to the soul than beauty. And as for beauty being only skin-deep…, that is baloney. It is not just what is seen with the eyes, but also with the heart and emerging emotions.
Let visitors get into an eco-system to be soothed and healed, and to have their senses put in order. The location should have the words “come and unwind in paradise” written all over and doesn’t disappoint.

Beautification is much about creating a space in which to enjoy relaxing moments and focus on one’s well-being while surrounded by plants and exotic flowers that give an original paradise-touch to a dreamy tropical garden appearance. The Caribbean climate is beneficial, as it allows tropical flowers and fruits to thrive. There’s something about tropical blossoms that just screams “paradise.” The striking blooms with exotic shapes of the endemic exotic flora come in various colors, from vibrant yellows and oranges to deep reds and purples.

Let it be a space where tasty tropical coconut water is discovered and if so desired enhanced by a whiff of spirit as a sweet combination for love and re-hydration. Mind that nature’s purpose of this liquid is to serve as a suspension for the endosperm of the coconut during the nuclear phase of development. Just imagine what that can do, that an ice-cold ‘rum-coke’ with or without a cocktail cherry cannot do.

Too often there is an aim to create a destination that is a kindergarten for grown-ups with adrenaline spiking adventure rides. Every so often existing valuable beauty goes unnoticed because of being too busy trying to create cheap sensation with no lasting value. Loosing is always tragic but loosing because of thoughtlessness is quite deplorable. Great beauty can be found in the simplicity and sustainability of nature and at almost no expense. It mainly needs tender loving care, sun and water.

Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty. - Albert Einstein

Let the beautician be the angel from paradise who creates a fabulous way to immerse oneself, literally, into the destination’s breath-taking scenery, where visitors will find themselves at one with the secrets of life itself, feel what heaven feels like, and capture it in their hearts. It will leave them longing for more and more often. Simply translated in hospitality vocabulary, becoming loyal repeat stayovers.