The 60-acre Pigeon Point Heritage Park, known as one of Tobago's popular tourist attractions, with its coconut palms, shallow turquoise sea, a pretty jetty and long stretch of white sand, is expanding its reach to include several business ventures that would bolster the small and medium entrepreneurs (SMEs). These business ventures would include the main initiative: a confectionery operation, a heritage art exhibition galley and a nature trail. Dr James Armstrong, chairman of the Pigeon Point Heritage Park, said the main idea behind these business initiatives is to exclusively encourage and attract local SMEs to invest, focusing solely on promoting and selling Tobago's culture. Former owner of Pigeon Point, ANSA McAL, transformed it from a beach facility to a heritage park. In 2005, the Tobago House of Assembly re-purchased Pigeon Point for $106 million. Armstrong said the Pigeon Point board has developed strategic plans to continue to build on the theme heritage to lure more tourists to sun-drenched Tobago. "Each visitor must have a unique Tobago experience. Tourists are calling for more than just sea, sand and sun, but an opportunity where they could connect and experience the traditions and culture of the island. So we plan to sell Tobago's culture as a business."
Expanding SMEs
Armstrong stated that the main vision of the Heritage Park is to play a role for the business sector, which would seek to engage and accommodate SMEs in expanding their businesses. "The idea is to establish a heritage confectionery operation on site, where we identify SME's from the cottage industry to sell and supply small confectionery items that are unique to Tobago's culture. "We were hoping that it would have been up and running already as we have identified about ten to 12 vendors who are interested. But this business initiative requires a local business to operate the entire production on-site." Armstrong, a self-taught artist who hails from Tobago, said vendors must meet the required standards and guidelines set by Pigeon Point. "They must produce quality goods and be consistent in their delivery," said Armstrong, in an interview at his Maraval home two weeks ago. He explained that these products would be repackaged and given a Pigeon Point branding. "In the long-term, we plan to sell and market these branded products to supermarkets, then the region and eventually outside of the Caribbean. So there is export potential." He said this initiative would attract international visitors.
For those who may be reluctant to lose their brand, Armstrong quickly dispelled their fears, saying they would have the opportunity to increase their production from a mere 1,000 packs of bene balls or sugar cake annually to about 100,000. "This is the problem we are having with SMEs in Tobago...they are not looking at the vision and long-term benefits."
Locals sustaining park
Developing the Heritage Park to lure visitors so they can experience Tobago culture and cuisine may just be the life-saver for Tobago's struggling tourism industry. During the budget debate last November, independent Tobago senator Dr Victor Wheeler said there has been a dramatic 60 per cent drop in international tourist arrivals to Tobago over the past five years. Wheeler said tourist arrivals to Tobago have been declining since 2005, when there was a total of 84,467 arrivals. He presented the following figures: "In 2006-83,460; in 2007-63,000; in 2008-56,000; in 2009-38,000 and, in 2010-34,391. When you compare this with the other Caribbean islands, we continue to see reduction in international tourist arrivals, while the other islands have recovered and are showing an increase albeit a small increase," Wheeler said. On the cruise ship arrivals side, he pointed out a similar trend of decline for the island. He said that in 2009 there were more than 70,000 visitors, while the numbers dropped to 61,000 in 2010.
Although the hotel occupancy rate drop significantly since 2009 by 40 per cent, Armstrong said, Pigeon Point maintained its level of visitors. For 2010, the popular scenic beach facility attracted 120,000 local and foreign visitors, while the figure increased to 127,000 in 2011. Asked what he believed accounted for these sustained numbers, Armstrong said: "I think there is still a significant amount of people coming from the cruise ships, but apart from that, our numbers are coming from local tourism." Armstrong said he believed there are more locals than foreigners sustaining the park. He said many locals who visit Tobago but stay with friends or familystill visit Pigeon Point in southern Tobago because of its quiet ambience and relaxing environment.
Niche market: Weddings
Armstrong said another business initiative Pigeon Point is looking to draw on is that of seaside weddings, which, he added, is very lucrative and has great growth potential. Since the THA bought Pigeon Point from the ANSA McAL Group, Armstrong said the board had embarked on several renovation plans and there are now many requests for beach-style weddings. Armstrong said Pigeon Point hosts about eight weddings a month. "Among the different wedding packages available, one of our niche offerings is to market our authentic Tobago wedding, inclusive of the traditional attire, donkey cart ride and tambourine music, which can be recorded and sold. There would be a lot of spin-offs from this business venture, as it would benefit other aspects of the industry, like the hotels.
At a cost of $1.5 million, the Pigeon Point board is also planning to construct 16 overnight cottages discreetly placed to accommodate the corporate community for retreats and the like, and a building to host wedding receptions. Construction is scheduled to begin in six months' time. Armstrong said Pigeon Point is running behind on some of its projects. The nature trail should be completed in two months. When it reaches the lagoon area, the trail would be elevated at a rough cost of $4 million.
Coastal erosion
The beach on the western side of Pigeon Point has been described as an active zone for coastal erosion. Despite this challenge, Armstrong said several projects are underway. He said that while Pigeon Point has lost a bit of its beachfront, most of the infrastructure is taking place on the northern side. Regarding funding for its projects, Armstrong said the facility has been financially self-sustaining. He was unwilling to divulge Pigeon Point's annual revenues. "We meet our own costs. We do not have to go to the Government-only for special projects and problems, like the coastal erosion issue. Most of the initiatives we have engaged in are bankable projects, and we have already approach the bank," he said. The other alternative is to look for major partners or investors for some of these projects, Armstrong said.
Other projects include:
• An outdoor heritage art gallery where paintings on Tobago culture would be showcased and tourists can buy the originals or copies
Art pieces would be selected from winners of different competitions from childhood straight up to established artists.
Activities for visitors:
• Sea sports: para sailing
• Dragon boat racing, soon to become an annual event
• Non-motorised sports
• On-the-beach restaurant: Caribbean Kitchen would be offering heritage Tobago breakfast. Among the culinary offerings would be fast-disappearing traditions, such as grated cocoa tea.
• Unique teas, like soursop and rock sage, would be packaged, branded and sold to tourists.