Andrew Welch, president of the Trinidad Hotels Restaurants and Tourism Association, is encouraging companies and businesses in T&T to become part of the tourism industry which he believes has a tremendous potential. "We are now looking at opportunities to bring the T&T public into a tourism frame of mind. Tourism has a way to go and has potential and the general public has a part to play. We are developing a proposal and we want to meet with corporations and businesses and do a sensitisation programme. We want people to understand they are in tourism," he told the Business Guardian last Friday.
Welch said he met Gervase Warner, Group CEO of Massy Group, at a function and mentioned that the Tourism Association wants the Massy Group in the association.
"Warner's answer was that they did something in tourism and it did not turn out too well. Massy has National Car Rentals and Almo Car Rentals operating in the airport. Tourists come off planes and go straight to Massy, get their cars and drive off but the Massy Group–as far as they are concerned–is not in tourism. Massy supplies all the hotels with tires and everything we need for our vehicles but they do not believe they are in tourism. They just opened their Super Store on the highway in Tacarigua. It is close to the airport. That is part of the challenge: to show people they are part of the tourism network and industry."
On Tuesday, the Business Guardian sent an email to Warner asking about his conversation with Welch and if he believes that the Massy Group is involved in tourism but there was an out-of-office reply saying that Warner will be back in office on July 6.
Welch spoke about the benefits of companies being part of the association and the tourism industry.
"Let us say Massy has 200,000 customers and Massy has a sale. Business is all about profit and growth and if Massy can get customers–the Tourism Association's network of members, allied members and member affiliates–then Massy will benefit from being in the association. So if Massy has a special and they want the world to know about it, we will put it on our Web site."
He wants to increase the membership of the association through member affiliates.
"Hyatt Regency Hotel is part of the association but if you go to the engineering employees and ask them how long they have been into tourism, they will tell you they are not in tourism. So a member affiliate will be the employees of the actual members. They do not have to pay the full membership fees as Hyatt's membership fee is significant.
"To become a member affiliate you apply and get a card; with that card you can now get discounts from members and allied members. If we can encourage Bhagwansingh Hardware to become an allied member of the association, then its staff could also become affiliate members. So if an employee of Hyatt goes to Bhagwansingh, he may get a five per cent discount because they are an affiliate member. The reason for this is not just money and savings but you become part of a database on what is happening in the tourism industry."
He said the problem is even people who interact with tourists do not know they are part of the tourism industry.
"People in T&T do not know they are into tourism. I asked a lady at the airport if she is into tourism and she said she is not but part of the wheelchair department. I then told her the foreigners who she helps with wheelchairs off the plane are tourists! I had to walk her through scenarios to show her that she is part of tourism. This requires a holistic programme and training at multiple levels."
He said businesses and all sectors of the society must be made aware of the part they play in developing tourism as a product.
"We must work on primary schools, secondary schools, universities. The reason why it must be a multi-pronged approach is because if you working on children and not on those who supervise the children, then they have the influence and are the ones who are with them all the time. So my 20 minutes with students will be thrown out the window by those who supervise them for 24 hours."
Welch is the managing director of Banwari Experience Ltd and Tourism Information Products Services spoke to the Business Guardian last Friday at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Port-of-Spain.
Government partnership
Welch said in the past people have been using the "cliche of economic diversification" but nothing was done to achieve this goal.
He also said that there has not been enough planning in developing the tourism industry as a product as there is a tendency to run the industry by "vaps."
"I am just using this as an example. You cannot be a practitioner in tourism and wake up tomorrow morning and the minister says we are going into India. I do not have any data or details showing that there is a market there. Tour operators do not have it, tour guides do not have it."
Welch said that ministers have been dictating the direction industries take and the private sector must begin to chart its own course.
"A good example is when the Prime Minister went to China to set up the embassy there. A whole trade team was taken to China. I am not saying China is not a good market. What I am saying is that this cannot be driven by the hunch of a prime minister or a hunch of a minister of trade. We in the different industries must begin to dictate where we go. In the past we have just been sitting back every time a minister is changed and it is not only in tourism the direction of the industry tends to change."
At the same time, he said the private sector cannot do it alone as even they too have limited resources.
"A stakeholder body is not a financial entity but it just operates on the little money it gets from subscriptions and things like that. We cannot make a difference on our own. We must partner with government institutions. It must be an open and honest partnership."
Arrivals and occupancy
He said the tourist arrivals are not sufficient for the hotel operators in T&T.
"On average, most of the properties would do less that 60 per cent occupancy if you look at an average year round. I am very conservative with this number as it could be less. The challenge is having products to attract like experiences and attractions.
"Every year thousands of people are brought for Carnival. As of now, I cannot tell these foreigners any prices for next year as no one has information yet and we are already in June. If we are talking about the greatest show on earth, we are supposed to be using the greatest marketing on earth."
He spoke about raising standards among local hotels.
"The Bureau of Standards with the Tourism Development Company (TDC) have come up with the T&T Industry Certification (TTTIC) programme. They look at best practices and setting standards and certify your property. There is no way to force hotels to adopt these standards though. In other countries hotels are forced to adopt these standards. In other countries they even have standards where you can not operate in the industry if you are not certified."
Speaking about arrival statistics, he said occupancy rates and arrivals are cyclical.
"At this point we are probably a couple percentage above what happened last year. But if you look at the statistics over a long period of time you could say the arrival statistics are stagnant. It has always been just over 400,000 arrivals a year. We have had this for the last ten years. There have never been significant jumps because the product we think we have–apart from bad planning–is not tourism-centric."
As an example, he said, his company takes tourists to the Dimanche Gras and after 20 minutes many leave because they are bored.
He suggested streamlining Carnival activities that would draw tourists.
"When they read about it online it looks exciting but they are tortured when they actually experience the show as they listen to calypsoes which are the political commentaries of T&T. The language is also foreign to them."
Raising standards
He said one of the trends in tourism these days is tourists trying the local foods of the countries they go to.
"Because of the diversity of the country, T&T has the best local foods in the region. Our street foods rival anything, anywhere in the world but we do not have an appreciation for it. Many of our street vendors will tell you they are not into tourism. Ask Richard's Bake and Shark and he will say he is not in the tourism industry. But he sells thousands of bake and sharks everyday."
Welch said, at the moment, there is no authority that deals with food and health standards up to international standards.
"Right now we have the Ministry of Health issuing food badges. Right now, the T&T Hospitality and Tourism Institute is working on a project and is working on certification project for street food vendors. It would not be as simple as doing an interview in an office for the current food badge.
"This certification would require three hours a day for at least three days, where people get proper training around food handling. The idea is a certified tourism food handler."