The T&T Guardian's January 14 editorial on the tourism challenge for T&T was both timely and relevant. There does indeed appear to be new momentum to bring tourism into the economic mainstream.
Those of us who have laboured long and hard to make Caribbean tourism the engine of economic development it undoubtedly is today, are very conscious that for the sector to be successful there must necessarily be a joint public/private sector axis to drive it.
Sadly in T&T there has never been anything but polite lip service for tourism at the political level, leaving the private sector rudderless in the industry's development and promotion.
It is no good to give the Ministry of Tourism a mandate to develop tourism without providing it with inter-ministerial support, enabling legislation and a realistic budget with which to carry out its task.
Tourism is impacted by many challenges beyond the remit of the Ministry of Tourism. Issues such as crime, infrastructural shortcomings, inadequate fiscal incentives, unreliable utilities and destination cleanliness. All have the potential to derail the industry's development.
Nothing short of a full cabinet level commitment to make T&T an internationally recognisable tourism destination, is liable to be effective.
If the country is ever going to fulfil its tourism potential and so generate the desired foreign exchange earnings, well paid employment, inter-sectoral linkages and entrepreneurial development, it is going to need just such a commitment.
But more than anything else, government needs to produce a clear-cut strategic action plan, developed in conjunction with the industry's stakeholders, giving everyone confidence that the country really does know where it is going, and how it is going to get there.
Such a plan must be able to convince us that:
�2 Tourism has at last become a priority sector;
�2 The all-important accommodation sector will be realistically supported in its expansion by competitive fiscal incentives;
�2 Remedial actions will be taken to make the visitor experience internationally competitive;
�2 Airlift, particularly into Tobago, will be improved;
�2 Both destinations will be properly branded and competitively promoted in all source markets.
Both islands, in their quite separate ways, have a great deal to offer, but years of benign neglect must now be superseded by an unambiguous national commitment.
Much has been said about the prospect of Sandals coming to Tobago, and it is true that, in and of itself, it will not solve all our problems. It will, however, do a number of really important things:
�2 It will provide T&T with an internationally accredited state of the art resort that will raise tourism standards and awareness throughout both islands;
�2 It will put Tobago squarely on the international tourism map;
�2 It will generate a significant surge in airlift into Tobago out of all source markets;
�2 It will catalyse a sea change of positive thinking about the importance of tourism for T&T.
JOHN BELL
MARAVAL