THA SECRETARY of Tourism, Culture, Antiquities and Transportation Tashia Burris says the division is re-activating its visitor relations unit for tourists during the state of emergency (SoE).
She spoke at a Tobago security council stakeholder meeting at the Hochoy Charles Administrative Complex, Calder Hall, on January 9.
The meeting, chaired by Chief Secretary Farley Augustine, targeted specifically stakeholders in the tourism sector.
Noting that travel advisories were issued by the US, UK and Canada after the SoE was declared on December 30, last year to suppress the threat of gang violence, Burris said the division has continued to sell the island to its foreign partners despite the increased security measures that have been implemented.
“We have begun communicating with our partners, the fact that Tobago is still safe, still clean and ready for persons to enjoy, still unspoilt, untouched, undiscovered. We have our doors open so that our visitors can still come and enjoy everything the island has to offer,” she said.
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But she said despite the division’s efforts, potential visitors will be influenced by media coverage of the SoE.
“The reality is that some people are going to look at what has been broadcast so far, see the negative in that and then there is going to be a fallout.”
Burris said while there has been some fallout, the division is taking steps to ensure that visitors enjoy a wholesome experience in the midst of the SoE.
“Understanding that tourism, as the largest sector, can be impacted negatively by a state of emergency, there was a conversation about how are we going to communicate with our visitors, those who are here on island, those thinking about coming and even those who are not coming at this time, how do we get them to still come back regardless of what is happening in the space.”
She said apart from the measures that have been implemented by the Ministry of National Security to protect citizens, the division is also putting in place “an additional layer of car for citizens.”
“Some of the systems that we have talked about is the institution of a visitor relations unit at the Division of Tourism that is now going to re-activated because it actually existed a couple years before when we had some negative incidents with visitors on our island.
“In most recent times, I am happy to report that we have not had negative incidents against visitors on the island for a long period of time. But in light of what is taking place, we recognise that people who visit the destination would have natural concerns.
“They would want to get information. They would want to know where they should go, where are the safe places to hang out, what kind of activities they could still participate in and even if they want to report an incident - and it doesn’t have to be an incident on crime only – but if they want to report some situation or they want to get some additional information about a matter that we are now setting up this unit.”
Burris said Augustine sanctioned the reimplementation of the unit.
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“We are going to pull all of our partners together, not just division of tourism personnel but tourism-oriented police, translators in the space because we have a number of visitors who may not speak English as their first language.
“Different types of stakeholders to ensure that at any point in time, our visitors can come to the island and feel as if they are being taken care of, especially in light of what is taking place, certainly ensuring that even the interactions that are taking place between officers and the national security apparatus, that people walk away feeling like they have had a wholesome interaction.”
Aside from the visitor relations unit, she said the division is also beefing up its domestic marketing to ensure there is not too much fallout in that area.
Burris added the division will also embark on campaigns to counter the negative travel advisories.
She said the SoE also provides an opportunity to launch in some new markets, including Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Guyana.
“These visitors already have relationships with TT, they are always coming. Let’s see if we can continue to sell Tobago as a destination that they can come to. So even while we are managing the fallout from our mid and long haul destinations, that we are seeing where we can get some more visitors from shorter haul destinations.”
