Tobago hotel sector shuts down again

The Tobago Hotel and Tourism Association (THTA) says the accommodation sector has once again shut down after the Prime Minister's announcement that air and sea travel between the two islands will now be limited to essential movement.

Dr Rowley said at a news conference on Saturday the measure is one of several being implemented to stop the spread of covid19.

THTA vice-president Carol-Ann Birchwood-James said on Tuesday while the association understands that tough measures must be put in place to stem the virus, hoteliers are being negatively affected. She said hoteliers and guesthouse operators have reported that all of their bookings were cancelled between Saturday and Monday.

With the borders still closed to international travel, Birchwood-James said hoteliers were hoping to capitalise on domestic tourism to earn revenue, particularly during the July-August vacation.

She said July was a slow month for business and hoteliers were hoping August would be better. Birchwood-James said the situation remains dire. "Right now our hotels are more or less closed as of today. Everybody cancelled...Our workers are home again," she told Newsday.

"We thought we would have been able to pay our bills and get a little money for the next few months but everybody is closed, mass cancellations."

Noting hoteliers have not yet received disbursements from the Government's $50 million grant facility for renovations, Birchwood-James said the State should now consider relief funding so businesses could stay afloat. "We need money for operations now more than renovations. We reopened at great expense and now we are closed. It is something for the State to look at as we move forward."

Birchwood-James said workers within the sector are once again on the breadline. She reiterated that about 80 per cent of them still have not received the $1,500 salary relief grant after the Government had announced the national lockdown on non-essential activity in March.

"I was in an office recently when a man came in and said of the 55 workers that were employed where he worked, only five had received grants." So, we are thinking now that we may need funds for operations to pay our workers some type of stipend and to cover electricity bills and other utilities."

Coco Reef Resort & Spa recently sent home 120 employees for an additional two months owing to the huge financial losses the company has incurred because of the restrictions to combat the novel coronavirus.

In a statement, dated August 14, the resort's owner/chairman John Jefferis is quoted as saying its management team is working extremely hard to overcome the challenges confronting the company in the midst of the pandemic.

The resort is tentatively expected to resume operations in October.