Tourism in dire state

This was the call of Hassel Thom, president of the Trinidad Hotels, Restaurants and Tourism Association (THRTA).

“Without future growth, the sector will not be able to materially continue...Tobago has been ‘stuttering’ and (some of) their doors are closed while in Trinidad, some of our doors are closed at times because we cannot afford to carry the cost.”

“Just as the PM saw it fit to take the mantle and support the Energy Minister to drive the process, nothing less (is needed) in tourism.”

Thom issued his call for action by the PM during a press conference co-hosted by the THRTA, the Tobago Hotel and Tourism Association (THTA) and the Trinidad and Tobago Incoming Tour Operators Association (TTITOA) at Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain on December 15.

Thom cited a downward trend in the amount invested by the current and previous administrations in marketing destination Trinidad and Tobago (DTT) as a major reason why Rowley needs to pay personal attention to declining visitor numbers in Tobago and stagnant visitor numbers in Trinidad while other Caribbean destinations have recorded growth in 2016.

“We have always lobbied the Government that the Hotel Accommodation Tax (HAT) should be used more meaningfully to enhance DTT. In 2015, the private sector; hotels, contributed TT $62 million, the Government injected $50 million.”

“In 2016, the private sector injected $60 million, the Government put back or utilised $29 million. Brian Frontin (CEO of THRTA) said, for 2017, that figure (Government) has dropped to $19 million. I think something is woefully wrong,” Thom declared.

He made the point that as people, we are judged by our actions and if we make a judgement based on Government’s declining contribution to marketing DTT, “it doesn’t give us any hope moving forward.”

Making reference to the many direct and indirect forms of employment created by tourism-related businesses, Thom said “as a private sector, we cannot afford to just shut doors.”

He then called for “full collaboration” between the public and private sectors on how best to market DTT.

“We’ve been clamouring, we’ve been emphasising, we’ve been trying our best to get them (Government) to do more marketing for the destination. No one, ten or 15 members could promote this destination (properly on their own). This needs public sector involvement and with that, we need to see a regulated industry.”

Poor destination marketing, as well as a roughly 50 percent shortfall in required “international quality” room stock, were cited by THTA president, Christopher James, during his presentation on the dire state of Tobago’s tourism.

“Tobago’s occupancy rates in October (2016) were about nine percent. Last month, November, they were only slightly better - ten percent. We are beyond the critical position for Tobago.”

James said international arrivals to Tobago are down by 25.84 percent, “a continuation of decline for the last ten, 11 years.”

“Where as back in 2005 we had just under 88,000 arrivals, this year we’re looking at about 19,000 or a little less than that in international arrivals.”

In terms of room stock, Tobago “actually needs 2,500 rooms to make us a year-round sustainable product. At the moment, we only have about 1,000 international quality rooms.”

It remains unclear if and when a Sandals resort would be built in Tobago but James cautioned that this alone would not be enough to save Tobago.

“We need help now. We have certain criteria that need to be fulfilled (such as) money at lower rates of interest to help us get through this. We need incentives in other areas; our incentives, compared with the rest of the region, are pretty poor.”

James made the case that not having competitive incentives is a major reason why TT is lagging behind its neighbours.

“The region grew by about 7.2 percent last year (2015). They had over 30 million visitors to this region last year... We get accused in Tobago; the hotels, of not marketing our (product) but without (national) destination marketing, any marketing hotels do is lost. You need that focus on the destination before anything that people or individual hotels do, makes any sense,” James declared.

The THTA head added that this is why collaboration is needed between Government/ the relevant ministries and the private sector.

“First of all, we need to agree on a destination marketing plan for TT. Then we can, as individual hotel or business owners, fit our marketing into those strategies,” James stated.

Another person who didnt mince words at the joint ‘presser’ was TTITOA president, Lorraine Pouchet.

She criticised Government and the private sector alike for abdicating their responsibilities.

“For this partnership to yield positive and sustainable results,” Pouchett argued, “tourism must be a priority for the government of the day. Unfortunately, successive governments have all dropped the ball and only paid lip service to the industry. The private sector has also surrendered its role and responsibility, by allowing the government to take almost

complete control of the process.”

Pouchett said unless the situation is rectified urgently, tour operators will be among the first stakeholders to go out of business.

“Over the last four to five years, there has been a steady decline in business for the tour operating sector. Members of TTITOA have reported declines ranging from five percent per annum in previous years (2010 to 2014), to a 30 percent decline over the past two years. This is an untenable situation.”

Pouchett argued that if attention had been paid to the sector over the last 15 years or so, “as a destination, (TT) would today have a viable tourism sector...bringing in foreign exchange and ensuring the economy would not have been in a state of impending collapse.”

“When will we recognise that tourism has the potential to create more jobs than the energy sector and needs to be part of a serious diversification strategy?” Pouchett asked.

The TTITOA president identified nine areas which she said require immediate action (both macro and micro):

1) Branding/Imaging of TT - positioning on search engines is critical;

2) Development of a strategic plan for the industry - stakeholder participation is critical but actioning the recommendations even more so; 14 months into this dispensation of Government, and many, many consultations later - no action to date that is yielding tangible results.

Environmental issues must be an integral part of this process - travellers are very concerned about a destination’s approach to protecting the environment;

3) Appropriate funding for marketing - TT $19 million is a drop in the bucket if we are serious about tourism. We need to increase the allocation;

4) Review and training of the service provided in all areas. Example, at the ports of entry, one and a half hours to process immigration is not user-friendly;

5) Access to funding/grants for business development - tour operations are an intangible product - banks are not willing to lend;

6) Licensing of vehicles for tourism - not only concessions - but amendment to the Tourism Development Act to allow for the licensing of such;

7) Development of International Standards criteria - all providers need to be licensed and to be members of a bona-fide umbrella association;

8) Develop and upgrade sites and attractions on both islands in keeping with international standards. For example, what is happening at Maracas is a travesty (and) Pigeon Point is being eroded; and

9) Install and maintain toilet facilities at strategic locations on the islands, ensuring access for the differently-abled.

Pouchett spoke of the need for DTT to be one ofvthr top results in online searches for Caribbean holidays, as well as the vital importance of having an application (app) that puts DTT at the fingertips if business and leisure travellers alike.

“Until we start understanding that social media, Internet marketing, is what is taking the world by storm, and adjusting our marketing efforts to put money into that specific area, we (TT) are going to always have problems.”

She lamented that several years after the TTITOA first recommended to the Tourism Development Company (TDC) that an app for DTT be created, “it’s unbelievable” that nothing of the kind exists.

Five days after Pouchett’s lament, the Tourism Ministry announced at the welcome ceremony for the first flight of Air Canada Rogue’s non-stop route between Toronto and Trinidad, that the “TDC will be launching, early next year (2017), a new tourism mobile application that will provide users with a comprehensive insight into our myriad events and festivals, as well as provide feedback regarding the quality of visitor experiences whilst in TT.”

Business Day asked what all three groups would consider progress, given their warnings about the dire state of TT’s tourism sector.

THRTA chief executive officer, Brian Frontin, responded, “Progress for us means confirming, collectively and collaboratively, what are the next actionable steps that move this destination from the best-kept secret to something that is internationally known and recognised.”

“We want to be at that table,” Fontin added, “informing, driving, concluding and confirming that process in the shortest time possible with all ministries; because tourism cuts across several ministries.”

Referring to Thom’s call for PM Rowley’s intervention, Fontin said, “This is why you see the consistent call for the leadership position by the PM as we’ve seen in energy, to ensure that this priority is filtered through to development