If successive governments had been asked the question: “Do you want tourism?” they would probably have all said, “Yes, of course.” But one after the other they have failed to put the building blocks in place to make it happen.
There is a quantum gap between a stated desire and the actions required to implement it, particularly in a sector as interactive as tourism, which impacts on so many other public and private activities.
In an interview with reporter Rhonda Krystal Rambally in the Business Guardian on April 7, chair of the Tourism Development Company Denise Demming said that the tourism industry has great potential and she is absolutely right. There is an urgent need to diversify the economy but it requires the political will to make that happen. TDC needs adequate resources to develop and promote the industry. T&T’s tourism potential is ridiculously underutilised and underestimated.
With all the belt-tightening that is going on in the country today, as a consequence of the fall in oil prices, there can be no doubt of the need for economic diversification, nor that tourism with its robust global growth, offers the best option for alternative hard currency earnings and long-term job creation. Make no mistake about it, tourism is an export industry. You don’t, however, have to send the product away to be sold, the buyers come to you and bring their money with them.
The political will has to extend far beyond polite platitudes about how T&T is a nice, hospitable place to visit. It has to be backed with an effective legislative package and supported by a meaningful budget to make it happen. But without that political will, which has hitherto been conspicuous by its absence, nothing will change.
Tourism development requires investment in hotels and attractions, but there is fierce competition for investment funds, whether they be domestic or international. The Government must therefore be able to demonstrate business success, and its incentive regime must be at least as good, and preferably better, than other competitive Caribbean destinations, in view of T&T’s late entry in the tourism race.
Currently that is not the case. It is woefully inadequate.
Marketing and promotion is famously expensive, but it is a government’s responsibility to brand and promote the destination, it is then the job of the hotels and attractions to sell their products. But without a properly branded and marketed destination, their job is infinitely more difficult. The effective promotion of a country not only impacts tourism flows, it also sends a potent message to investors in many other fields.
There should be no doubt of T&T’s tourism potential.
It is fervently hoped that this government will now grasp the nettle and provide TDC with all the legislative and financial resources necessary to craft a practical, strategic action plan, designed in conjunction with tourism stakeholders, capable of re-energizing the tourism sector, and then get out of the way and allow them to do their job.
John Bell
Via email