New UK advisory raises hopes

ALI KHAN, General Manager of the Hilton Trinidad, said he was hopeful that travel advisories warning foreigners against visiting Trinidad and Tobago because of alleged terrorist links will continue to be “toned down”.

Khan made the comment after the British government, which had issued a December 6 advisory warning their nationals against visiting Trinidad and Tobago, released an updated travel advisory this week which stated that “there had been no recent history of terrorism” in this country. Khan said he was optimistic that as time went by advisories from around the world would tone down and tourism would once again “be on heights”. He said while the Hilton Trinidad wasn’t yet sold out for Carnival, this year was a strong one and occupancy levels were actually better than last year. Corporate Communications Specialist at the Port Authority, Betty Gibbons said everything was “more or less back on stream”. President of the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce, David O’Brien said the Chamber’s focus remained on the safety of citizens, not public relations. He said the decision to tone down the UK advisory was a good move. President of the Downtown Owners and Merchants Association (DOMA), Gregory Aboud said despite the toned down advisory, which he said was “still reasonably negative”, there was “no reason to rejoice yet”. He said it was “simplistic for us to believe that the new advisory would act as a boost to attract visitors.” Stuart Dalgliesh, President of the TT Manufacturing Association (TTMA) would only say that he “was sure it would help”.