I HAVE SEEN a tug and pull over the past few weeks regarding development projects on the island, with a lot of focus being put on the new hotel being opened by Butch Stewart’s Sandals brand.
While I have taken note of various arguments, I feel that sometimes when you stand too close to the mountain, you lose sight of it, and I was reading an editorial in the online Trinidad Express [recently] which really opened my eyes.
I was stunned to learn that visitor arrivals in Tobago have fallen from 90 000 to over 10 000 in the past 12 years, according to the article.
Reduced
Its marketing budget was reduced from about US$10 million to just about US$2 million. The tourism sector in Tobago is suffocating, and its people and stakeholders are frustrated.
And that brings me to the Sandals debate.
Apparently the government of Trinidad and Tobago has invited Stewart to consider setting up his resort in Tobago. Here’s the take by the newspaper on that issue:
“This dismal picture (Tobago) was relieved by the welcome news that Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley was championing an initiative to get Butch Stewart to bring a Sandals/Beaches Resort to Tobago. Even more exciting was Butch’s keen interest to do so.
“If there was ever anything that could kick-start tourism in Tobago, and reverse the present downward spiral, it is surely the advent of such a world-class resort, with all the attendant public relations and marketing hype that would be bound to go with it.”
Branding
That gave me pause. It is funny that while we seek all sorts of reasons to fight against people like Stewart, there are islands and people wishing they had what we have.
The point was made further: “As a consequence, when Sandals opens a new resort, there is a ready-made reservoir of business, driven by potent consumer demand, waiting and anxious to fill its rooms. The tour operators and online travel agencies are hungry for the business it produces, and the airlines are ready to fall over themselves to adjust their schedules to provide additional service.
“It is that complete absence of destination branding that is at the heart of Tobago’s tourism difficulties today.”
I remember a story I learned while growing up about the dog and the bone. And I am concerned that we don’t drop what we know we already have, for reasons most of our people are not even clear on.
– FRANK SOLOMON
