Crippling Blow

Earlier this month, James revealed startlingly low occupancy rates of 34% for hotels and 25% for guesthouses, compared to 67% reported regionally.

Kaye Trotman, President of the Tobago Unique Bed and Breakfast & Self Catering Association (TUBBSCA) says the crisis has been especially difficult to bear for her membership.

“With the troubling issues on the sea bridge,” Trotman explained “small properties in general have been dealt a crippling blow to their revenue earning capacity from the domestic market. We have seen our occupancy levels drastically reduced to under 20% and for small operators whose properties may range from under 5 to 15 rooms, we are taking about occupancy of under 1 to 3 rooms per month. Some properties have even experienced 0% occupancy on occasions.” While problems with transportation between the islands are not new, this holiday period has been particularly inconvenient. Trotman says “There have always been issues with the air and sea bridge that have negatively impacted Tobago tourism stakeholders and the general Tobago public.

“Efforts have been made to address these issues but we have yet to see the adoption of solutions that address the issues once and for all. The current sea bridge crisis has only served to worsen the declining trend we have been experiencing in the tourism industry in recent years.” The TUBBSCA President says the situation is becoming more dire by the day.

“With the current sea bridge woes, most tourism operators have been literally cut-off at the knees” she said. “Some are facing the wrath of the financial institutions (banks) who are showing little empathy for their clients’ situation during these trying times and have shown limited willingness to work with them on instituting “situational” solutions in response to prevailing circumstance.” Asked about a possible government mediation between the banks and the affected Tobago businesses, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley did not offer much in a way of a solution.

“I would not be the one to commit to talk to the banks because banks are very difficult to talk to,” he said after a stakeholder meeting on Monday. “However,” he continued, “in managing the business of the country the banks have clients and without clients there’s no bank and if their clients are experiencing temporary hardships I’m sure that any good banker will want to keep his or her client alive so that they can live to fight another day.” Given that the ferry situation has been laid squarely at his administration’s feet, the Prime Minister was also quizzed on the possibility of financial compensation to offset losses incurred during the first two quarters of 2017.

“I don’t know about compensation,” Dr Rowley said. “When you are in the business world there are certain knocks that come your way and if the Government can make any action that will bring about some amelioration to the losses or to the discomfort the Government will but I wouldn’t here commit to any compensation.” The matter of a moratorium on the 10% tax Tobago hoteliers pay was also raised in the stakeholders meeting.

Dr Rowley was again cautious when approaching questions about a possible grace period, “It is something I would have to raise with the Minister of Finance who also has other kinds of crises to deal with.” He said hoteliers were privy to other governmental considerations “and it’s against that background… it was felt at the time (the) tax was imposed that hoteliers need to make their contribution even though they were having some difficulty. Like other citizens, they need to make that 10% contribution so as to ensure that they are not getting a free ride because the Government put a number of things in place which only they benefit from.

“But given that they have got this extra hardship, which is not of their doing and it also has the effect of damaging the contribution they can make to the economy, we’ll want to consider what relief we can give but I wouldn’t want to commit to that until I speak to the Minister of Finance to see where he’s at and where we are at.” The government has had to shoulder the blame for the fiasco which has also affected its own plans to stimulate the local economy.

“Over the past 12 years we have seen a steady decline in international tourist arrivals to Tobago which stakeholders have attributed to limited effective destination marketing and non-stop airlift to the island. Most operators became dependent on the domestic market to keep them afloat,” Trotman says.

“Even with the “Stay to Get Away” programme by the Ministry of Tourism over the July-August period, customer interest cannot be converted because of the unreliability of the inter-island transport options.” Travellers continue to be left stranded at both ANR Robinson International and the Scarborough Port, a situation that serves as a potent deterrent for domestic tourists. On Tuesday, just one day after the Prime Minister’s meeting with stakeholders, passengers scheduled to travel from Tobago to Trinidad on the 6 am sailing of the TT Express were forced to wait some 11 hours after the vessel experienced electrical issues. Some frustrated passengers tried to get a flight off the island, causing some chaos at the Arthur NR Robinson airport. The Express eventually left the Scarborough Port at about 5:15pm. Passengers sailing from Trinidad to Tobago later in the day also experienced delays.

Trotman said her membership has always weathered what she described as “less than stellar service” from the entities meant to serve the island’s transportation needs. In a recent television interview Downtown Owners and Merchants Association (DOMA) President, Gregory Aboud had some sharp comments about the issue.

While she took umbrage to some of his remarks regarding Tobago’s contribution to the country, Trotman said Aboud highlighted a lingering issue.

“Mr Aboud’s comments signal the need for urgent and comprehensive constitutional reform and institutional changes that would allow for the dynamics of a relationship between the islands of Trinidad and Tobago that would yield greater benefits, economic and otherwise, to the individual islands and the union.” In the interim she believes definite action is needed to address deficiencies in the administrations of the agencies responsible for ensuring the continuity of the sea bridge’s operations.

“The buck must stop somewhere.

Since these parties are the ones with the legitimate authority to address the issues with the sea bridge they must be held accountable for the discharge of their duties and responsibility in this dilemma.”