tidings
Good luck George
Tobago Tourism Agency Ltd (TTAL) Chairperson Alicia Edwards believes the island should be shown to the world through the eyes of Tobagonians.
On Tuesday, TTAL’s 11-member board of directors, who were appointed in March, hosted a tourism partner forum at the Shaw Park Cultural Complex.
In her preamble, Edwards discussed some of the issues affecting the industry: “Some of it is structural, some of it is hampered by the governance relationship between TT, some is hampered by political will, some of it has to do with our cultural issues and the inhibition .”
She said Covid19 exacerbated a situation where industry had been in decline on the island for a while and for all sorts of reasons.
Going forward, she said her team’s focus areas include growth, competitiveness, sustainability and collaboration.
She said all existing strategic partnerships are being reviewed “to determine whether they are working and, if necessary, creating new ones in all source markets.”
Edwards added: “We’re looking at overseas agent contracts, airline contracts and all the things we’ve spent on to make sure we’re actually getting value for money.”
She said there is a need to improve the brand image and brand message in a way that makes it more authentically Tobagonian.
“It’s hard to see my Tobago – the way my island is sometimes portrayed. It’s hard to see the beauty of my island in the way we’ve sold Tobago in some ways, and so we want to show Tobago through the eyes of a Tobago person.
“Most of us are Tobago by birth, Tobago by boat or Tobago because we fell in love or because we had a left-handed noodle.” Edwards said it’s important to “sell the island in a way that reflects the best of who we are.”
She said that more emphasis should be placed on the domestic tourism market. “Covid19 taught us that while it’s good to look outside, there are also opportunities, much more financially stable during the period of border closure.”
Another pillar of the work, she said, is the stimulation of demand in the various diaspora markets.
“We think the outdoors is important to draw from that community of Tobago and Tobago people who live abroad who would come home for different events and who would be a point of contact.”
She said the board will seek to continue a number of key industry development programs started by their predecessors.
She said the main source markets they intend to focus on in the coming months are the United States and Canada.
“People in the know may know that we have a representative in Canada, but we haven’t done much in the US and now with the CAL flight from JFK (airport) to Tobago, we are actually in the process of engaging a US representative -‘s. to start digging in and taking business out of that market because it’s air freight that we’re not paying for.”
The agency, she said, is in discussions with Virgin Atlantic and British Airways regarding their arrangements and in particular to make better use of their marketing allocations within these contracts.
“People in the know may also be aware that within the airline contracts the agency has with Virgin and BA, there is a marketing provision. This provision has not been adequately accessed and has not been properly and fully utilized. This is something we would like to ensure we fully utilize in the coming year. We have had some discussions with (German airline) Condor.”
She said there is a draft contract on the table and they have started accepting reservations. “We are working with Condor to ensure we have a return of visitors from that part of the world.”
Discussions with Caribbean Airlines, she said, continue regarding domestic arrangements and access for visitors from neighboring islands.
