TTA advised to read up on Tobago tourism

Tobago’s tourism stakeholders on Thursday referred the Tobago Tourism Agency (TTA) to previous reports concerning plans for the sector, suggesting that the data being sought was already available and that hosting further workshops was reflective of a disrespect for the opinions and time of the stakeholders.

Businessman David Lum Kong, representing the Tobago Division of the TT Chamber of Industry and Commerce at a workshop held on Thursday at the Victor E Bruce Financial Complex, Scarborough, noted that a similar workshop was recently by the Tobago House of Assembly’s (THA) Division of Tourism, under then Senior Tourism Coordinator, John Arnold

Lum Kong comments followed an overview of the workshop by the Agency’s Deputy Chairman, Dr Acolla Cameron, which she said was intended to complete the Agency’s strategic plan to define Tobago’s tourism products, identify the island’s “brand” and measures to market the destination.

Lum Kong suggested to the TTA members, which included Chairman Dr Sherma Roberts, that they review the notes arising out of that previous workshop as well familiarise themselves with various other plans, proposals and recommendations for the industry done over the last few years.

“I know the Chamber submitted a plan about five years ago. Last year around this time or just before the councillor (Tourism Secretary Nadine Stewart-Phillips) was appointed we had a programme at Magdalena with a similar work session (to the TTA workshop) and many of the persons in this room participated in roundtable workshops. “I am trying to understand where are we going. I know we want to go forward but we have a lot of information out there…,” he said.

Vice President of the Tobago Hotel and Tourism Association (THTA) Carol-Ann Birchwood James endorsed Lum Kong’s statements.

“We spent a whole day, prepared all the documents earlier in the year, talking to Mr Arnold, that is a whole day out of our business, we don’t get paid as we sit down here. I am thinking…they will call us for another workshop and another workshop. …most of us and people from the Agency should have had a look at what was presented, accepted and agreed to, it was only a few months ago.

“Very few things have changed, don’t mind that the world is dynamic and we are changing a lot of technology but most of the things have not changed, the fundamental things. We should have all read it at least because a lot of us spent the entire day there,” she complained.

Birchwood James also called for due regard be paid to the opinions and the time given by tourism operators.

“We don’t want to sit down here and hear a set of speeches, we want to give our opinion, give what our association thinks as we move forward. We want to move forward, we want to make money, we want to have guests, we want to pay our bills, but we certainly don’t want to sit here and have our time not respected as well as our opinions,” she said.

In response, Stewart Phillips called for stakeholders to give the TTA a chance to formulate a plan for the sector.

“In all fairness to the TTA, we should give them the opportunity, along with the stakeholders, that is why we are here to formulate a plan… As much as we might have had something five years ago, we are here now and there is a reason, it must mean either we fell short on something. I cannot speak to that, the TTA cannot speak to that but of course these documents will be used in terms of decision-making and informing decision-making as we do not want to reinvent the wheel,” Stewart-Phillips said.

TTA Chairman Roberts said the workshop was a means of gathering secondary data, “that something that was spoken about five years ago might have fallen off the radar in 2017 because the environment is changing very, very quickly.”

“By March, we are hoping that whatever you say here will be still relevant to the three-year trajectory. I also want to underscore that the roadmap is flexible, the external environment is very turbulent, it is moving at a pace and therefore some of the things that we might be putting forward, we might have to tweak it or change it or even take it off the table completely because of some of the changes in the social, technological environment,” said Roberts.

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"TTA advised to read up on Tobago tourism"

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