Duke calls for audit of Tobago's October carnival

PROGRESSIVE Democratic Patriots (PDP) political leader Watson Duke is calling on the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) to conduct a proper economic analysis of the October carnival.

During a news conference on October 30 at the party’s headquarters in Scarborough, Duke said while the carnival “deserves a round of applause,” the assembly must say who really benefitted from it.

He said there were differing views about the number of visitors to the island during the event. Duke said while the Tobago October Carnival Association interim president Dexter Sandy claimed more that 30,000 visitors during the period, the carnival’s gold commander ACP Collis Hazel reported there were about 37,500 visitors.

“We have to consider what those figures were really based on,” Duke said.

“Those figures were based on the number of arrivals from the fast ferry and the airline. But you cannot distinguish between people who are coming home and visitors. Everyone cannot be classified as visitors. I think there needs to be some disaggregation between those coming home to Tobago and visitors who are coming to spend.”

The Belle Garden East/Roxborough/Delaford assemblyman continued, “Every visitor who comes to an island, whether it be a local visitor or a foreign visitor from another continent, another island, there is something that is called an average tourist spend.

“If it is an international tourist, based on the figures that pass through Trinidad and Tobago, they are expected to spend between US$150 to US$300 per day. If it is a local tourist from Trinidad, he of she is expected to spend between US$100 and US$200 per day.”

He reasoned if 30,000 visitors came for carnival and the average tourist spent TT$1,000, some $30 million would have been pumped into the island’s economy over the period.

“Therefore, the investment of $9 million into the carnival would have made appropriate sense. But I am yet to see a proper report from the secretary of tourism or the Chief Secretary.”

He also urged the THA to provide data on the number of tourists who actually stayed at hotels, guest houses and villas.

Duke recalled an Oxford business group, which did research on Tobago around 2016/2017, as saying there were about 4,000 rooms on the island.

“So let’s add 1,000 rooms to that because we (Tobago) have grown. Let’s say there are 5,000 rooms on the island currently and the secretary of tourism is yet to say how many rooms are currently on the island.

“If 30,000 or 37,500 people came to Tobago, someone needs to tell me where the others stayed. If 30,000 people came to Tobago and there are 5,000 rooms, by a stretch of the imagination, where did the 25,000 people stay?”

The PDP leader said that in Tobago, people no longer build extra rooms randomly.

“People do not have the luxury to just put down rooms for a family to come from Trinidad. Gone are the days when children will take the ground and give the family their bed.

“Somebody needs to speak about that because we are speaking about tourism and hospitality and we did not see vagrancy improve or increase in Tobago during the time.

“So if those persons came where did they stay? Tobago needs to answer that question if we are to really assess the success of our carnival. Or are those figures made up?”

Duke said a veteran band leader, Marcellin Nedd, also revealed that she had catered for 300 people in her band but got fewer than 40 players.

“That, to me, marks a loss, a screeching halt and we have to stop and ponder. Here we have a mas band leader who is accustomed to the cut and thrust of carnival creating 300 costumes. We have in excess of 30,000 visitors on the island.”

He said Nedd also went to Tobago Day celebrations in New York to advertise her presentation.

“She put her thing up on social media, 300 costumes and she got less than 40 costumes. How could we, therefore, celebrate and say that carnival was good?”

Duke added, “Entertainment is always nice, music is always nice and when boy meets girl, girl meets boy, it’s always nice.

"But when we look at the economics of our carnival, which is important to the serious thinkers of Tobago, it was not nice.”

He also claimed another band leader in his electoral district, who has won several titles over the years, had said she would not be participating in next year’s carnival.