Will the SPCo destroy what tourism sector we have left?

[0bserver]

28 minutes ago, A fool and his money..... said:

The mistaken belief that finance will get us through?

Well it's clearly not tourism getting us through when it's managed like this. 

Explains why it accounts for less than 0.5% of GDP.

This article in the Daily Fail could be written about our tourism industry and those in it with their massive dependency on tax payer's money 

Edited January 23, 2023 by 0bserver

[Banker]

13 minutes ago, 0bserver said:

Well it's clearly not tourism getting us through when it's managed like this. 

Explains why it accounts for less than 0.5% of GDP.

This article in the Daily Fail could be written about our tourism industry and those in it with their massive dependency on tax payer's money 

Exactly & some people want more taxpayer money thrown at it, it’s a fact that without the finance sector including egaming then the island would be bankrupt & unemployment would be massive.

[asitis]

4 hours ago, Banker said:

Exactly & some people want more taxpayer money thrown at it, it’s a fact that without the finance sector including egaming then the island would be bankrupt & unemployment would be massive.

and exactly why the FSA should do it's job efficiently, without putting undue petty bureaucracy onto the very businesses which supply the money to keep rafts of pencil necks in jobs in Government.

I am all for strict regulation and survival of compliant firms, but just sometimes they need to take a look at some of the stuff they send out and give their heads a wobble ! 

[A fool and his money.....]

4 hours ago, Banker said:

, it’s a fact that without the finance sector including egaming then the island would be bankrupt & unemployment would be massive.

It's not a fact though is it? It's an anecdotal observation by someone (yourself) who clearly works in the industry and therefore has a vested interest in its subsidy continuing. As I have said before, 0/10 was born from a race to the bottom with other tax havens rather than anything scientific. With food bank use on the rise and the steady decline in public services, teachers and nurses on strike after a decade of pay erosion, our glacial progress towards renewable energy, it's only right that we question these things.

Tourism forms such a small part of our economy because it has been neglected and underfunded for years. Finance would be the same if it were treated likewise. Is the subsidy it gets in the form of 0/10 still working for us? If so why are we skint and young people leaving and not coming back? 

I think Max's idea of investing in tourism is a good one. It may not be the whole answer but a diverse economy is the aim in any case. As Max says, unlike finance it brings other advantages other than purely financial ones, it's certainly worth a try, we certainly have to do something differently if we are to prosper into the future.

[Andy Onchan]

14 hours ago, asitis said:

Why is it almost everything you read these days has a feint odour of excrement of the large male bovine about it !

 

The purpose for posting it was to highlight the fact that there is a strategy.... whether it's the right one is another matter.

[P.K.]

The Daily Wail front page is all about burying the real issues of the day which is that their precious Tory Party is mired in yet more sleaze than you could shake a stick at...!

So they trot out their usual nonsense:

"As every Mail reader knows all those on benefits are feckless workshy scroungers who are living off the state as a lifestyle choice brought about by their own poor decisions like being born into poverty...."

etc etc etc - you know the rest.

Amazingly folks pay actual money for this gibberish - because they unbelievably actually agree with it!

One of life's great mysteries...

[woolley]

On 1/23/2023 at 12:02 AM, woolley said:

Of course a more diverse economy is a good thing, but to believe that we are subsidising the finance sector is the mother of all delusions. Where do you reckon the money we CURRENTLY spend on health and education, not to mention the vast army of government pen pushers is coming from? It's a mixture of VAT and taxes from the finance sector. There is no subsidy. There is a framework within which the sector operates and provides a subsidy to the Island. This is a fact.

 

21 hours ago, A fool and his money..... said:

I get that you think the finance sector is a Panacea for the IOM, probably because you work in it and make a lot of money from it. I think though having bent over backwards for it for 40 odd years, with health, housing etc. now on its knees and the prospect of having to constantly import tens of thousands more people to pay for our public services, it's only right that 0/10 is acknowledged as the mother of subsidies as it is, and then given some scrutiny into its effectiveness that goes beyond rich bankers and people like yourself spouting "spuds and herring" to protect their own interests and hoping the great unwashed aren't cocky enough to question their superior knowledge.

Nothing could be further from the truth. I have never been directly involved in the finance sector. In common with the sector though, I have always run businesses that attempt to have as wide a customer base as possible, both here and overseas that bring outside revenue to the Island and provide employment. We try never to be dependent on a single income stream providing more than 5% of turnover. We cannot survive on the business available just from the Isle of Man itself though. It's too small, but I am pragmatic enough to recognise that what revenue we do derive from the Island stems from finance sector companies directly, or indirectly from ancillary businesses that support them. It's currently the only game in town. Our tax advantage is really our only USP and it isn't really that unique. 

I'm all for trying alternative approaches, but I don't think you start to do that by scaring away the golden goose. Maybe later when (or more likely if) your new strategy start to bear fruit, but I do think you trifle with this at all of our peril.

[woolley]

5 hours ago, P.K. said:

The Daily Wail

etc etc etc - 

Amazingly folks pay actual money for this gibberish - 

According to that front page it looks like you could have it for a penny a day for 90 days, PK.

I'd jump at that if I were you. Think of all the outrage you could pour out from that much material. 😉

[P.K.]

14 hours ago, woolley said:

According to that front page it looks like you could have it for a penny a day for 90 days, PK.

I'd jump at that if I were you. Think of all the outrage you could pour out from that much material. 😉

"Outrage" - au contraire Woolster.

I find it amusing and slightly exasperating that so many folks are that stupid...

[joebean]

The Isle of Man has a problem in that it (mainly the idiots we elect as politicians) struggle to grasp the concept of levels. Too many people have delusions of grandeur. The fact that we have the stupidity of a 500k target for tourism and the illusion that the TT is a “world-class event” that attracts lots of wealthy individuals is testimony to it. 
The Isle of Man has its level in the world. It is a relatively small place with a relatively small population that gets by with industries that are attracted by a relatively low tax burden. The money generated from this and a relatively small number of other economic sectors, such as tourism can sustain the resident population with an acceptable level of services. Instead of accepting this as the case we keep having these foolish ambitions and spend money and effort chasing the unobtainable. We need a new approach that recognises and pursues sustainable industry and services and sets expenditure of public funds at a sustainable level. Where sectors (such as tourism/ motorsport) are in inevitable decline, forward-looking strategies should be developed which will replace the lost income. If we pursue delusions we will simply end up deluded, miserable and broke. I would prescribe a course of realism to make us feel better about ourselves and our environment. 

 

Edited January 25, 2023 by joebean

[asitis]

39 minutes ago, joebean said:

I would prescribe a course of realism to make us feel better about ourselves and our environment. 

How very true, we've suffered from this for many years, we appoint people who subscribe to the chasing rainbows philosophy whilst the present goes to hell.

[Bertie Basset]

The Steam packet now offers atrocious service to Belfast and Dublin , sailings are either in the middle of the night or nowhere near a weekend . Being able to go to Northern Ireland for motorcycle road races is a thing of the past , no sailings for an Easter break either . 
The sailings they put on are useless and unfortunately, Steam Packed will make these services even worse, the excuse being that the service isn’t being used . 

[Gladys]

13 hours ago, joebean said:

The Isle of Man has a problem in that it (mainly the idiots we elect as politicians) struggle to grasp the concept of levels. Too many people have delusions of grandeur. The fact that we have the stupidity of a 500k target for tourism and the illusion that the TT is a “world-class event” that attracts lots of wealthy individuals is testimony to it. 
The Isle of Man has its level in the world. It is a relatively small place with a relatively small population that gets by with industries that are attracted by a relatively low tax burden. The money generated from this and a relatively small number of other economic sectors, such as tourism can sustain the resident population with an acceptable level of services. Instead of accepting this as the case we keep having these foolish ambitions and spend money and effort chasing the unobtainable. We need a new approach that recognises and pursues sustainable industry and services and sets expenditure of public funds at a sustainable level. Where sectors (such as tourism/ motorsport) are in inevitable decline, forward-looking strategies should be developed which will replace the lost income. If we pursue delusions we will simply end up deluded, miserable and broke. I would prescribe a course of realism to make us feel better about ourselves and our environment. 

 

We suffer from "small man syndrome".  Better to accept what we are, and make the best of what we already have.

[Albert Tatlock]

And, what happens when it dawns on many of the people now in their 20s/30s with school age children...who suddenly realise that their kids can't afford to live here when they get to 18?

It's already happening. If they are not locals, they leave.

If they're locals, they won't see much of their grown up kids after they turn 18.

1000 youngsters under 30 have been leaving the island every year since 2011. Instead, we're importing retirees not workers.

The island is currently being financially cleansed of its young.

[finlo]

8 minutes ago, Albert Tatlock said:

And, what happens when it dawns on many of the people now in their 20s/30s with school age children...who suddenly realise that their kids can't afford to live here when they get to 18?

It's already happening. If they are not locals, they leave.

If they're locals, they won't see much of their grown up kids after they turn 18.

1000 youngsters under 30 have been leaving the island every year since 2011. Instead, we're importing retirees not workers.

The island is currently being financially cleansed of its young.

All down to the government facilitating the likes of Dandara over the last thirty odd years with buy to let.