Towards achieving tourism success

Bottom line though is that the entire country needs to be reoriented to have a more welcoming nature to all visitors — and each other for that matter — and, most importantly, we need to achieve the following objectives, or at the very least be seriously working towards them, to have any chance at building long-term success in the hospitality industry: 1. Achieve First World standards in becoming as litter free as is humanly possible.

2. Get rid of long-term roadside unauthorised garbage dumps such as at the top of Morne Cocoa Road. Fifty years ago, would you believe tourists were taken for scenic drives on this road, which has now become a hell hole.

3. For God’s sake, do something about the crime situation.

Maybe hire overseas professionals to work alongside our local police force to rid our country of the gang scourge.

4. Immediately halt the land grabbing going on all over TT . It is particularly bad in the hilly areas of Maraval and Moka.

5. Make the Highway Patrol function. Our roadways are some of the most lawless places in the country.

6. Reintroduce common sense in the administration of both central and local government. For example, on very busy two-lane roads like Saddle Road, Maraval; St Lucien Road, Diego Martin, etc do not allow delivery vehicles and garbage trucks to service these roads between 6 am-9 am and 3 pm-6 pm.

Until we enforce such common sense rules to stop the everyday tyranny of the individual over the majority, there will be no real return to genuine civility.

7. Greatly improve water distribution, especially in Tobago, as no visitor will return to a dry destination.

8. Listen to tourism experts like John Bell. Indeed, hire him to be the No 1 adviser to the Tourism Minister.

9. Market Tobago to Trinidadians.

I might go there if given a reason to do so.

10. Some people may ask what some of these measures have to do with tourism. Well, visitors always like to be in a safe, secure and civilized environment and we are a long way from civility at this time.

GREGORY WIGHT Maraval