Hotel association president: Tobago's tourism sector should see improvements in coming months

PRESIDENT of the Tobago Hotel and Tourism Association (THTA) Reginald Mac Lean is optimistic the island’s tourism sector will see some improvements within the next few months.

He said members of the association met with Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism Satyakama Maharaj and Minister of Planning, Economic Affairs and Development Kennedy Swaratsingh on July 10 to discuss strategies to boost the tourism sector.

Mac Lean said the discussions were fruitful.

“We discussed things to try to make some changes within the next few months to try to bring tourism to the forefront of the country because it doesn’t affect just Tobago,” he told Newsday on July 15.

“We had an open and frank discussion about tourism and hopefully we could start working with the government to get things moving.”

Asked how Tobago’s accommodation sector was faring at the start of the July-August vacation, Mac Lean said while there is significant domestic tourism taking place, people’s travel plans were still being affected by a shortage of flights.

He said, “If a big property in Tobago has a wedding or a function, everybody else suffers over the weekend because of it because flights are limited. Limited flights, limited passengers.”

He claimed there was a combined total of 280 people at functions in Crown Point and Mt Irvine over the weekend.

“So when you do the Maths on a weekend with 280 people coming, it’s difficult. When one property does well, other properties suffer and vice-versa.”

“It really comes down to the insufficient seats on the airbridge and internationally for Tobago. So really and truly tourism is not where it is supposed to be.”

On June 30, Caribbean Airlines announced its decision to reintroduce late-night domestic flights.

The daily flight leaves Trinidad at 11.30 pm and arrives in Tobago at 11.55 pm while the return flight departs Tobago at 12.30 am, arriving in Trinidad at 12.55 am.

At present, Mac Lean claimed none of the hotels, guesthouses and bed and breakfasts are filled during the week.

“We have 3,000 rooms in Tobago between hotels, guesthouses and bed and breakfasts. Nobody is full during the week. All the business is mostly local, so it’s all weekend business.

“I can’t speak now for other hotels to see how they are going but the business is like a see-saw. Slow during the week, busier on the weekends.”

He said the planned tourism forum, which takes place on July 24 at the Magdalena Grand Beach and Golf Resort, Lowlands from 9am, was designed to move sector forward.

Mac Lean said the day-long event, titled Fuel of the Future, seeks to address the challenges plaguing the sector, including inconsistent airlift, limited investment and shifting market trends.

“This is our way of now trying to see how we can fix and move tourism forward and let people understand what the issues associated with tourism are. We are the one island in the Caribbean that is lagging behind everybody else in tourism so we really have to fix that.”

Minister of Trade, Tourism and Industry Satyakama Maharaj, THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine and Secretary of Tourism, Culture, Antiquities and Transportation Tashia Burris are expected to address the forum.

Dionne Ligoure, executive manager, corporate communications, Caribbean Airlines; Navin Dookeran, CEO, Exim Bank Trinidad and Tobago; Vanus James, economist and international consultant; Laura Dowrich, PRO, Experience Turks & Caicos; and Dr Roger Hosein, UWI Department of Economics, are also expected to speak at the event.