CHESTER SAMBRANO
The president of the Trinidad and Tobago Coalition of Services Industries (TTCSI), Lara Quentrall-Thomas, is calling on the government to say what is its plan for the tourism sector.
She says many opportunities can be derived from different forms of tourism, for example, education tourism and eco-tourism, coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, speaking on CNC3's The Morning Brew today, Quentrall-Thomas expressed disappointment in what she has heard from the government regarding the sector, thus far.
"From my own scanning and reading of the manifesto, I didn't see a lot for tourism Trinidad and that does worry me."
She said the flagship tourism event, Carnival, will be impacted significantly. She expects that if it does happen at all, it will be on a much smaller scale.
The TTCSI president also called on Finance Minister Colm Imbert and his team, to consider the services industry and to go back to pledges made in the government's 2020 manifesto.
"There are so many things in the manifesto that we want to see in the budget and we also really appeal once again for some support and incentives—not necessarily grants and loans—but tax incentives for those in the sectors most significantly impacted by COVID," she said.
She expressed the hope that the services sector can still contribute to the national GDP (Gross Domestic Product).