The Coalition of Tourism Associations is hoping to be more involved in this country's tourism industry under the new administration and feels that it can provide a solution to the country's foreign exchange woes. Interim Chair of the Coalition, Lorraine Pouchet spoke on TV6's Morning Edition, here's more from Dominic Ramroop..
00:00With the national budget on the horizon, President of the Trinidad and Tobago Incoming Tour Operators Association, Lorraine Pouché, is hoping that the private sector is finally granted a seat at the table with the government as she blasted the previous administration for a lack of communication with the sector.
00:16Pouché says that the public sector is there to provide support, create destination awareness and position Trinidad and Tobago as a tourist destination worldwide.
00:26But when it comes to the provision of services, that lies with the private sector, which makes them the true drivers of the industry.
00:33First and most important would be for collaboration between public sector and private sector, meaning that we would be at the table with the government.
00:43A little history on that is that for the past, not fully ten years, but eight years, we have not been at the table.
00:52There has been no meetings between the Ministry of Tourism and private sector.
00:56As a matter of fact, I can speak for myself when I say that I have never met the former Minister of Tourism. Never.
01:03And I think that speaks as a very ominous sign when you realize that private sector is what drives the tourism industry.
01:11If there is no involvement of the private sector and the people on the ground who are actually experiencing the whole process, then where are we going?
01:21Pouché, who is also the interim chair of the Coalition of Tourism Associations, says that so far, things have been positive under the new administration, and the coalition is looking forward to more of the same.
01:31We are looking forward to positive things. We don't expect handouts, but we certainly expect cooperation.
01:37With the country's forex issues being no secret, Pouché is of the opinion that tourism can be a solution to those problems, while also acknowledging reasons why the industry has been underserved.
01:47It's the will, number one. It's the will, definitely the will, and definitely the lack of understanding of the potential of tourism for foreign exchange earnings.
01:59Tourism can earn foreign exchange. Unfortunately, we believe that what draws people to us is Carnival.
02:06I just want to give you a little example of something. St. Lucia is about 180,000 people. Trinidad is 1.5 million.
02:17We had 40,000 visitors for Carnival this year. We had 28,000 visitors for Carnival this year. Do the math.
02:25Pouché sees the cruise ship industry as being a major part of the tourism industry's solution to the country's forex issues,
02:30but Worrying Trends has a calling for a cruise shipping committee to save the industry from going under.
02:36A few years ago, we had about maybe 200, 300 calls. You know what a call is? When you ship docks and people come off, okay?
02:44Over the cruise ship season, which is a six- to seven-month season. It's now 14 calls this year. One-four.
02:52Doesn't that bother you? And you hear that start? Okay.
02:55So we researched. St. Lucia has over 500 calls this year. Look at the island. Look at the offerings. Look at the tourism product that they can offer.
03:06I hope that the ministry puts in a cruise shipping committee to look at the issues, which will include the port authority,
03:15the tourist transport providers, and the operators, that we would look at the situation and find ways to pull us out of that morass.
03:25If we continue going on that downward trajectory, by next year, we may have no ships calling.
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