By Vernon Khelawan Thursday, March 4 2010

HISTORY doesn’t tell it all, but Trinidad and Tobago’s approach to tourism has never been truly aggressive, resulting in the under-development of the sector over the years. In colonial times our mineral resources – oil and asphalt – our agricultural products - cocoa and coffee, sugar cane and citrus – were seen as our economic contributions to the coffers of the Mother Country – Great Britain.

The achievement of Independence 48 years ago did little to change the attitude that tourism was not a serious factor in growing our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). We have oil and gas. Why worry. And displaying a godfatherly attitude, we espoused that the smaller islands be allowed to benefit from tourism.

In the meantime however, our agriculture was abandoned. Coffee and cocoa are all but non-existent and for all practical purposes citrus is on the brink, while the epitaph for sugar has been written. Finally however, it seems some attention is being paid to tourism and efforts are being made to recognise it is a major player in our economy, but there is still so much to do to raise awareness; to develop our tourism plant, not merely by increasing the number of rooms, but rather, by taking at a comprehensive look at the macro picture and make moves to develop the industry in a holistic and sustainable way.

And this is not “pie in the sky” or wishful thinking. If we heard former Minister of Tourism Howard Chin Lee correctly when he opened the fourth edition of Tourism Park at the Divali Nagar site in August last year, he disclosed that close to half million overseas visitors are accommodated in Trinidad and Tobago annually.

These supposedly, are real figures and when studied in a Caribbean context, it must be realised that they compare favourably with our next door destinations like Barbados, which is slightly ahead in terms of numbers of visitors, but certainly more than Antigua and Barbuda, St Lucia, St Maarten, the British Virgin Islands and Curacao, all whose major income earner is tourism.

One month later in September, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Melba Dedier forecast that the tourism sector would grow by 5.2 percent per year in real terms between 2006 and 2015.

She further revealed that in 2005 the World Travel and Tourism Council stated that Trinidad and Tobago’s travel and tourism industry accounted for 14 percent of the country’s GDP and 17 percent of its employment.

Such compelling statistics can only serve to unveil the mega potential of this half awake economic giant.

Since in recent times greater emphasis is being placed on moving away from a totally energy-based economy to a more diversified one, the sector that jumps immediately to mind is tourism. This of course, does not mean we should not seek to develop our financial services sector and our marine services.

Dedier said at that time government was now emphasising the need to diversify the local economy and improve its potential for earning foreign exchange and that “tourism had been identified as a vehicle for such growth.”

She pointed out however that one of the main challenges was capitalising on “our rich, natural and cultural heritage as a means to position Trinidad and Tobago as more than just a sun, sea and sand destination.”

But is all this just “ole talk”? It seems that such pronouncements have been made several times before and still the powers that be seem so slow getting off the mark on the development component of the tourism sector.

If we are to use just two examples with great potential – the Pitch Lake at La Brea and the entire Chaguaramas peninsula – The Pitch Lake is still believed to be a wonder of the world, notwithstanding the fact that recently seven new “wonders” were unveiled. Nothing much has been done here. While Trinidad and Tobago does not have a Machu Picchu like Peru, we do have areas in this country with artifacts of the Carib and Arawak civilisations. There is no Taj Mahal like in India, but there is the Temple in the Sea at Waterloo. There isn’t a Coliseum like in Rome, but the Magnificent Seven at Queen’s Park West occupy pride of place in the country’s rich architectural heritage. These are just but a few of the possible areas that can be truly promoted as tourist attractions.

So with the new thrust of diversification, tourism therefore, has a major role to play. And since it already contributes a sizeable chunk to the GDP, proper and selective development of its various components can, in short measure move that figure from 14 percent to possibly more than 20 percent, while at the same time playing its part in the proper development of the country’s skills bank, and reducing the unemployment figures.Another aspect of tourism, which has to be given some attention, is the recent attempts to convert the Caribbean “tourism islands” into a single destination, either through combining any two or three or some kind of similar permutation, whereby visitors coming to the Caribbean will be able to visit more than one island for a single package price.

Serious work is being undertaken in this area by the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) and the Caribbean Hotels Association (CHA). Should this prove to be a viable marketing option, then, a properly developed Trinidad and Tobago tourism plant can have more to take to that regional table during negotiations for an adequate share of that pie.

What a payday it could be when visitors to the Caribbean can take in the smaller island destinations with their gambling casinos and sprawling white sand beaches and then embark on a visit, so different it could make their heads spin and be enthralled by the sheer diversity Trinidad and Tobago can offer – diversity in its people; its culture, its cuisine and its industry – surely an unbeatable quartet.

The obvious question at the end of the day. How can a small twin-island republic sitting in the Caribbean, have such diversity and not sell it to the world? The answer rests with all the stakeholders, including investors, employees, associations and other ancillary organisations, the least of which, is not the government of Trinidad and Tobago.

In times not too far in the past, tourism has been portrayed as older people from far off lands, usually cold ones, visiting these sun-drenched islands for the sole purpose of cavorting on the pristine beaches and drinking pina coladas or rum punches from a cut pineapple. Such times are gone forever and the industry must look at different marketing options to sustainably develop the sector.

So while the sector can play a major role in diversification of the economy, it can also raise the profile of the country in a very positive way.