Re: T.H.T.A MEETING WITH COUNCILOR TASHIA BURRIS, SECRETARY OF
TOURISM, CULTURE, ANTIQUITIES AND TRANSPORTATION
The membership of the Tobago Hotel and Tourism Association (THTA) met with Councilor
Tashia Burris, Secretary of Tourism, Culture, Antiquities, and Transportation at Mount
Irvine Bay Resort on Tuesday October 1st, 2024.
Councilor Burris after delivering initial remarks participated in a lively and spirited
conversation with those present and discussed a broad range of issues relative to the Tobago
Tourism sector, most of which was contextualized around the recently read Trinidad and
Tobago 2024/25 budget.
Despite the disappointing contents of the Budget particularly as relates to Tourism, the
output from this lively and informative discussion centered around charting the way forward
to position Tobago as a destination of importance in the Southern Caribbean. A variety of
issues were addressed, inclusive of plans to further develop Cruise Tourism, improving the
quality of the existing room stock on the island, advancing training opportunities and
initiatives via the Tobago Hotel and Tourism Institute and most importantly, airlift, to name
a few.
Coming out of the meeting, a commitment was made by both parties; the THTA and
Secretary Burris, to develop and implement a collaborative working plan that would improve
the quality of the product and increase the opportunities for stakeholders in the space.
President of the THTA, Alpha Lorde, commented that “this has truly been a successful
meeting of the minds of the key stakeholders of Tobago’s tourism product on charting the
way forward for the island of Tobago. Despite a meaningful lack of financial support from
Central Government and ongoing challenges with Caribbean Airlines, the THTA remains
committed to developing Tobago with the resources at hand. We are truly heartened by our
Secretary’s commitment to assist us where possible and look forward to strengthening our
collaboration with both the Division of Tourism, Culture, Antiquities, and Transportation
and the Tobago Tourism Agency Ltd.
The meeting ended with Councilor Burris pledging to continue to work and advocate for and
on behalf of all the stakeholders in the industry, whilst calling on all the participants to
remember their effective functioning in the space was also a prerequisite for success.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday 2nd October 2024
Re: T.H.T.A RESPONSE – BUDGET 2024/2025
The Tobago Hotel and Tourism Association (THTA) noted with interest the recent
pronouncements related to Tourism in the 2024 Budget Presentation. A more thorough
analysis is still pending, but at first glance there would appear to be little change in the
amounts allocated for recurrent expenditure and a significantly reduced allocation for capital
development on the island of Tobago as a whole.
We welcome the initiatives to increase Tobago’s hotel room stock via new hotel
developments. However, such announcements have been made in the past without coming
to fruition. Additionally, the support by way of marketing for the destination and by
extension the accommodation sector is woefully inadequate and therefore seems mismatched
and therefore likely to result in failure in the broader scheme.
The property now known as Magdalena Grand Beach & Golf Resort; a government owned
asset, has been the recipient of significant government injections historically and this year
we are again seeing the property be provided with funding to the tune of TTD 56M for
general repairs and refurbishment. Comparatively, the Tobago Tourism Agency Ltd. with
responsibilities for all destination marketing, inclusive of international Trade Shows, is
carded to receive only TTD 42M, which is woefully inadequate and pales in comparison to the TTD56M allocated to Magdalena Grand whilst the maintenance and upgrade of any
facility should be of utmost priority to any owner, we at THTA believe that increased
marketing and airlift support would redound to improved accommodation statistics and
revenues; the resultant effect, a benefit to the entire island and requiring less tax payer dollars
given that the sector it would now be better positioned.
We would also have welcomed investment in the Tobago Hospitality & Tourism Institute;
as the only operating institute of its kind in Trinidad and Tobago, it is a first and mandatory
step to preparing the population for increased job opportunities in the tourism sector, both
now and when new hotel developments come to fruition.
We also believe an opportunity was missed to introduce measures to regulate the popular yet
unregulated villa rental and AirBnb market, which currently contribute little to the tax
coffers and operate without governing standards.
Despite repeated calls from this association to allocate at least a portion of the hotel tax to
marketing, yet another year has passed without this initiative being introduced.
Given the country’s foreign exchange issues it is disappointing that tourism, a guaranteed
rapid forex earner, was not championed as a means to diversify the economy. However, we
remain cautiously optimistic that the initiatives outlined for Tobago will assist the island,
still suffering from the effects of the covid-19 pandemic.
