We told you all about The Fort George Tourism Zone on Monday - how it hopes to bring order and civility to the tourist trap in front of Fort Street.
It is the first such zone in the country and today it got its first real time test today - 7news was on the ground:
Jules Vasquez Reporting
Today was day one of the Fort George Tourism Zone. There was a lot of gesticulation, a lot of pointing a lot of emphatic instruction and passionate explanations being given.
These cones in front of terminal four are the so called red zone - where operators are supposed to orderly queue - in pre-determined order - to be next in line to make their pitch for a tour.
But on this day, those waiting in the zone looked dejected and forlorn.
John Pollard, President, Taxi and Transfer Union
"This line that you are seeing here which the red zone line, this is for everybody who is from 1 - 6. We stand up here and there is no service because the dispatchers are there and the people are bypassing the dispatchers and still they are not allowing you to talk to the people in the zone. Like I said we are here to follow the rules and regulations but we have to eat Jules."
And they blame it on the dispatchers - who should send the visitors to the tour guides.
We saw those dispatchers consistently ignored by the visitors as this elderly man walks right past them. It happened time and time again, or, in the case of this visitor, who just waved the dispatcher off.
John Pollard, President, Taxi and Transfer Union
"Dispatchers are there but you see the tourists walk pass the dispatchers most of the time."
Lloyd Enriquez, Coordinator, Tourism Zone
"The dispatchers are suppose to gauge the interest of the visitor in going on a tour or whatever that guest wants."
Jules Vasquez
"The visitor is not even interested in talking to the dispatcher."
Lloyd Enriquez, Coordinator, Tourism Zone
"We are looking at gate 4 for instance and see maybe we could move the dispatch booth, maybe it's the dispatch booth and the dispatchers are not at an area where they are catching the flow of visitors."
John Pollard, President, Taxi and Transfer Union
"Normally on a day like this about 10-12 personnel would have already been gone."
Lloyd Enriquez, Coordinator, Tourism Zone
"We are confident as the day goes along they will be getting their jobs as per normal, I am very confident of that."
The information and dispatch center was of little use and got no attention.
Lloyd Enriquez, Coordinator, Tourism Zone
"What we are doing today is taking good notes, we are trying to work with the leadership of each of the associations, it's a learning process for all of us as regulators and operators. This is 10 years of bad habits if you will and 10 years of practice that won't go away on day one no matter how much collaboration and talking we've done prior to today, so what we are doing is taking good notes and we are trying to work out some of the kinks as we go along today."
John Pollard, President, Taxi and Transfer Union
"It's not going to be an easy road Jules, it's going to be rough, some of the things that they want to do might take a good while before even coming to play but at the same time we are here to try, we are here to follow, seeing how it's going to work and if it's not going to work then back to BTB which is the drawing board."
And while Pollard was patient, the hair braiders didn't want to hear it:
Ruth Smith - President Of Hair Braiders
"The problem is that first of all is our location which is by Mirab parking lot, that is out of no money range of spending, and our job is about convincing and negotiation with the people and if we cannot come into terminal 1-2 and do that therefore we will always take a loss."
Jules Vasquez
"Now right now you are out of your spot?"
Ruth Smith - President Of Hair Braiders
"Exactly."
Jules Vasquez
"You should be over there, but you cannot hang over there?"
Ruth Smith - President Of Hair Braiders
"For what, we are not going over there."
Jules Vasquez
"You are not going over there because?"
Ruth Smith - President Of Hair Braiders
"It's not in any range of money making."
Jules Vasquez
"If you stay over there you will not make anything?"
Ruth Smith - President Of Hair Braiders
"No, what I want is the people from BTB to come out here today and go in that booth and see if they are going to make any money."
Roy "Bullitt" Craig, Tour Guide
"We will not make anything out of this by their guidelines because they are not professional. I am a tour guide and I am a professional."
Jules Vasquez
"But you have to agree what has been happening in the gate in the past is not professional when people bum-rush tourists, hollering at them, hustling them hard, that's not professional."
Roy "Bullitt" Craig, Tour Guide
"I agree, but every port that they go its the same, Jude, every port that they enter...."
Jules Vasquez
"But you haven't been on any cruise yet, Bullitt."
Roy "Bullitt" Craig, Tour Guide
"I am a cruise operator."
Yes, there was discontent, and disorientation - but it did work in spots: we did see dispatchers forwarding parties to the tour guides and we did see guides making their pitch.
John Pollard, President, Taxi and Transfer Union
"It's a tryout thing for BTB."
Jules Vasquez
"But while the grass is growing the horse is starving."
John Pollard, President, Taxi and Transfer Union
"We will see what will happen this first week Jules, we are here to follow rules and regulations. After all we are not bad boys. We are working men, that's right so we want it to work so we have to try."
On Friday, The BTB and the leaders of the respective groups will conduct a post mortem of today and Thursday's performance in the zone by reviewing video footage of the activities…
