The gap between the statistics on visitor arrivals offered by the Secretary of Tourism and Transportation in the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), Tracy Davidson-Celestine, and the information offered by Carolyn Birchwood-James of the Tobago Hotel and Tourism Association (THTA) points to very divergent perspectives on the business of tourism.According to the THA, Tobago had a great year for tourists in 2013, with 1,001,752 visitors to the island.
But the THTA counted 25,000 foreign visitor arrivals, a staggering drop from the island's last high of 86,000 in 2006.Clearly, such a divergence is the difference between raw numbers and meaningful statistics, and it points to some of the real issues facing tourism planning for the island, which depends on foreign visitors to boost its economy.Ms Birchwood-James suggests the THA appears to be "counting visitor arrivals on ferries and visitor arrivals on the airbridge."
With no indication of what that million-plus visitors did after arriving, there's no way tourism stakeholders can craft strategy for Tobago.
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