Tobago is expecting to earn $37 million from a major sport tourism event the island launched last week Thursday at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad hotel in Port-of-Spain.
The event will see some former great players who recently played in the English Premier League, like French International Louis Saha and Dwight Yorke, come to Tobago and strap up their boots to play in the British Airways Tobago Legends Tournament.
Part of this money will be direct spend from the hundreds of visitors expected on the island for the tournament and media value from a 90-minute special documentary on the island that United Kingdom-based Skye Sports will produce and show as part of the overall deal to bring the event to the Tobago.
It is the first time the event is being played in Tobago and it will take place at the Dwight Yorke Stadium. It will be preceded on June 19, 2015, by Dwight Yorke's day of golf at the Magdalena Grand Beach and Golf Resort.
Dr Acolla Lewis-Cameron, co-ordinator of the Tourism Hospitality and Sport Unit at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus, told the Business Guardian the event is an excellent opportunity for Tobago to sell the entire destination, not just the tournament.
She said the island already has experience in sport tourism and this is likely to help its organisation and marketing of the event.
"When I think of Tobago and sport tourism, it is clear there are several opportunities the island can explore. Tobago has several advantages. The first is that already it hosts several sporting events, like the Great Race, fishing tournaments, the Tobago Cycling Classic, and this year it also hosted the triathlon. Next year, the island will host British Airways Tobago Legends Tournament. Some of these sporting events–like the game fishing, cycling and great race–have international appeal and so the island is well positioned in this respect," Lewis-Cameron said.
The university lecturer said the timing was right because although the Caribbean has been talking for a while now about sport tourism, "no destination stands out as the go-to destination and there is a niche there to be owned and potential to be maximised."
Lewis-Cameron said the British Airways Legends Tournament needs to be sold as a package that offers not just the tickets to the matches, but also tours.
"Of course, there is the big potential to bring to visitors to the island and to use this event as opportunity to sell other aspects of the tourism product. Traditionally, people come to events and they take part in those specific events and not experience the entire destination. We have to pursue experiential tourism that will allow the visitor to say go to Bloody Bay and learn how to bake bread in a dirt oven; this can be part of the experience."
Tracey Davidson Celestine, secretary for tourism and transportation, said tourism is the biggest contributor to the Tobago economy and the largest employer of people other than the Tobago House of Assembly.
"Tourism is the largest sector in the Tobago economy that is driven by the private sector. Its growth and development benefit all Tobagonians because of the multiplier effect of each tourist dollar. It is why this tournament will not only raise the brand of Tobago and bring in large numbers of visitors, but it will also allow the ordinary Tobagonian to benefit. It will mean more work for the taxi-drivers, for the roadside vendors, for the restaurateurs and the hoteliers."
Davidson said the tournament was part of a concerted effort to develop Tobago's tourism product and the hard work has begun to pay off with increases in international arrivals and promising signs for this year's winter holiday period.