$40m not enough to market T&T as a tourist destination

Marketing T&T as a destination is challenging with limited financial resources. The Tourism Development Company (TDC), the agency responsible for all elements of tourism marketing and promotion, including the promotion of hotel investment opportunities, was allocated more than $40 million for its marketing initiatives for the fiscal year 2012/2013.

And chairman Rajiv Shandilya says it has been challenging to carry out all the plans with such a small amount of money. As a result of financial constraints, he said the TDC was pursuing several partnerships and collaborations with other ministries to support its marketing initiatives.

He said the TDC had submitted a marketing budget of $325 million but only $60 million had been allocated. He said the Ministry of Tourism took $20 million and the TDC was left with the remainder.

Shandilya said, “We have only been given approximately $42 million for marketing, which has to pay for worldwide branding and marketing of which $17 million is paid to international representatives and we already inherited a debt from last year from our marketing budget, which has reduced us by some $10 million.” He spoke to the Sunday Guardian in an interview about the TDC’s plans to boost visitor arrivals and market T&T.

Shandilya said the tourism industry was depressed and many areas needed to be revisited to improve the quality of the product being offered to tourists and visitors, and a comprehensive, strategic tourism plan developed in harmony with stakeholders.

International reps not making a difference
In September 2011, the ministry contracted six international firms “to sell” T&T as a new tourism destination. The contracts were signed for periods of 30 to 36 months. Former tourism minister Dr Rupert Griffith had said at a press conference back then that T&T must become known as a tourism destination.

He said, “The basic objective of this is to sell T&T as a new tourism destination and to bring people to our shores and to look at our beautiful flora and fauna, our beautiful country, the culture, the cuisine and the Carnival—one of our flagship products—and just to know who we are, where we are and what we are capable of contributing as far as tourism is concerned.”

The international representatives were Cheryl Andrews of the US, Christine Engen of Scandinavia, Peggie Kieda of Canada, Nadine Rankin of the UK, Beena Menon of India, and Anke-Andrea Sponet of Germany.

But Shandilya now believes that the representatives have not shown any evidence of improvements in visitor arrivals and said their contractual arrangements had to be reviewed. The cost of the reps was close to $17 million last year.

Shandilya said, “The monetary aspect that is being given...first of all, the international reps have to be reviewed in term of what our retainer fee to them is and what they are supposed to deliver. We have to have very precise branding and marketing initiatives.” Asked whether the reps have made a difference, he said he hadn’t seen evidence from the data provided: he hadn’t seen a co-relation between visitor arrivals and money spent on marketing.

“That can mean that we may not be spending enough money on marketing to get the desired effect of the increase in the number of arrivals to a satisfactory level, which was in 2005. “Another aspect is what metric is being used for the proper evaluation of the international reps to produce the desired result.” The islands of Trinidad and Tobago need to be branded as one destination and as such, destination packages have to be created.

“What T&T has to do is destination packages where the two islands should be marketed as one destination, making it “twice as nice” Shandilya said.

The room stock and the load factor for the airlift coming in can be best addressed if the destination is packaged, he said. Visitors can fly directly into Tobago and be absorbed while others can be sent across to Trinidad to enjoy the delights offered here.

He said, “The Tobago people will come to Trinidad and the Trinidad people will go to Tobago, so what you have happening is that the economy will be boosted and it will maximise room stock and capacity.” He said when visitors purchase their tickets it should be for T&T and not one island only.

“What has broken our tourism thrust for many years is the absolute separation of Tobago from Trinidad as a destination. “People say they offer two different things, but don’t confuse the brand, which is the destination.” He said from his research, there had always been confusion with branding.