Tobago's Secretary for Tourism and Transportation Tracy Davidson-Celestine is predicting a continued increase in international tourist arrivals to Tobago.The secretary noted that following some challenging years for international arrivals to the sister isle, growth has now returned and from all indications that trend will continue into next year. In an interview with the T&T Guardian, Davidson Celestine the five per cent increase in international arrivals in 2014 was due to hard work put in by her division and those efforts were only now bearing fruit."We have rebranded Tobago and have been marketing Tobago as a destination that one can experience a level of authenticity that is not available in many other destinations. Today we launched our responsible tourism initiative in which we encourage people to not just visit us but to interact with the community. Learn to bake bread in a dirt oven, learn to pull seine. In other words live the culture," Davidson-Celestine said.She made the statement in London at the World Travel Market where the T&T booth has generated significant interest with many people, media, tour operators and airlines visitingto learn about the country's tourism product.
Again this year,T&T's brand ambassadors Brian Lara and Dwight Yorke were on the "stand" or booth and were major attractions for their adoring fans.They signed miniature balls and bats and Yorke spent most of the day doing media interviews with the British press who were particularly interested in the British Airways Tobago Legends tournament that takes place next year on the sister isle.The booth also featured entertainment from Tobago icon Michael Baker, pannists Lincoln Fredrick, Limbo dancers and girls in Carnival costumes.Davidson said in addition to the expected increase in cruise ship arrivals, next year will also see major improvements in the airlift out of Europe. In this respect she promised a major announcement iin the near future. This combined with improvements in the product will lead to an increase in tourists coming to the island, she said.
Davidson Celestine added: "I am encouraging Tobagonians to look at opportunities in the sector and to invest and be entrepreneurs. Our stakeholders, many of whom are at WTM must also ensure that they provide the level of service expected by our guests and consistently work on upgrading the quality of their properties and service."Davidson Celestine said as part of the trip to Europe her team also visited Austria and Switzerland and the response was tremendous. She said their activities in Vienna were over-subscribed and tour operators, travel agents and the media were seeking more information about Tobago.She said she was confident those were markets that Tobago could tap into.