Burris’s welcome note on Tobago tourism

THA Secretary of Tourism, Culture, Antiquities and Transportation Tashia Burris offered a frank and comprehensive report on the status of Tobago’s tourism industry at a post-executive council briefing on Wednesday.

“We still have a challenge with our service,” she said.

The Tobago tourism division made a call in March via Facebook for tourism community ambassadors, and received 275 expressions of interest from people who want to be trained.

It’s unclear exactly what exactly a THA tourism ambassador would do, but if the training focuses on improving visitors’ experience on the island, then it’s a move in the right direction.

Trinidad has its own problems with customer service across the board, so the issue is national; but Tobago depends on successful tourist interactions to grow its economy.

Ms Burris correctly noted that service in the tourism sector is part of a business transaction and not a regression to subservience or slavery. Authoritative service both offers respect to customers and brings a unique character to the country’s hospitality workers.

Customer service has been a priority for the THA since 2021, when former chief secretary Ancil Dennis introduced a three-year initiative to change the service culture on the island.

To its credit, the Farley Augustine administration has continued the project, which is being managed by the Tobago Hospitality and Tourism Institute. Two thousand workers across multiple sectors of the industry have been trained.

This refreshed approach to the Tobago tourism product will focus on the “feel” of Tobago, developing a customer experience that reflects the character of the island, which experienced a cosmopolitan profile of colonialism.

Establishing an elite cadre of tourism ambassadors with a specialty focus on bringing the nuances of Tobago’s tourism product to life is an idea with potential, but it must find the right audience.

According to Ms Burris, cruise-ship visits have increased by 56 per cent over last year, bringing a total of 99,000 visitors to the island.

But fewer are expected next season; and an increase in cruise-ship visitors, unfortunately, isn’t the improvement that Tobago should be hoping for.

These monster ships are in the business of not just providing a satisfying and expensive cruise experience, they are also quite designed to shake loose any additional cash their travellers bring aboard. So cruise-ship visitors are the batti mamzelles of tourism and notoriously bad spenders during their fleeting stopovers.

According to the Caribbean Tourism organisation, in 2015, the Caribbean received 28.7 million stay-over tourists and 24.4 million cruise-ship passengers. Stay-over tourists outspent cruise-ship visitors 11.5 times over, spending US$27 billion to US$2.4 billion respectively.

Tobago’s greatest potential will hinge on its success in luring long-stay visitors for a week or more to experience Tobago’s unique charms.