The Trinidad & Tobago Business Guide (TTBG, 2009-10)

operate their properties; commercial decisions
are frequently made for political reasons.
While both Tobago and Trinidad presently
boast a significantly expanded inventory of
visitor accommodation in the form of guest
houses, bed-and-breakfasts (B&Bs) and private
homes, Trinidad still only has about 1,700 real
hotel rooms, and Tobago no more than 700.
In neither case can this be considered a critical
accommodation mass.
Trinidad
Trinidad recorded 386,452 stopover arrivals
in 2007, a 3 per cent increase over 2005; at
63,467 arrivals, cruise ship passengers almost
doubled.
Trinidad’s visitor potential is hinged on the
development of its meetings and conference
business, catalysed by Port of Spain’s position
as the de facto commercial capital of the eastern
Caribbean and supported by the opening of
the new Hyatt Regency as a classic convention
hotel. Its future will largely depend on the
national business climate, since that is the
stimulus which will drive its meetings and
conferences. While oil and gas hold out at the
right price, these prospects seem to be good,
with the caveat that Trinidad’s crime wave
is bound to dim Port of Spain’s lustre as a
conference venue and neutralise promotional
expenditure.
The marketing of meetings, however, is quite
different from the marketing of traditional
leisure tourism. It requires the formation and
funding of a Conventions &
Visitors Bureau (CVB) to
promote the destination to
corporate and independent
meeting planners, and
to facilitate on-site event
planning. This is now in the
process of formation.
With the Hyatt’s 45,000
square feet of flexibly
designed meeting space
added to existing facilities
at the Hilton, Kapok,
Crowne Plaza, Marriott
Courtyard and Cascadia,
Port of Spain is logistically
well placed to host a broad
range of meetings and
conferences, limited only by
the availability of delegate
sleeping accommodation—
two chartered cruise
ships were needed to
accommodate Summit of
the Americas delegates in
April. When the Hilton,
with its expanded meeting
space, completes its major refurbishment
programme, and the Carlton Savannah
opens later in 2009, the situation will ease
somewhat.
It was estimated by the Convention
Industry Council in 2004 that the annual
value of the US meetings market was US$122
billion. That obviously offers Trinidad an
exciting opportunity, but it is also an extremely
competitive market, and in seeking to obtain a
piece of it Port of Spain will have to go head to
head with such major Caribbean destinations
as Puerto Rico, The Bahamas and Curaçao,
not to mention such iconic US cities as Las
Vegas, San Francisco and New Orleans. In an
environment as competitive as this, Port of
Spain will need to offer a comprehensive menu
of readily available things to do and see, as well
as a satisfactory balance of meeting facilities
and hotel accommodation.
Trinidad hotel stock
When it comes to new hotel developments,
developers are notoriously cagey about sharing
their plans. But there are a number of new
projects, either under construction or with
approval to move forward:
• The Carlton Savannah on Coblentz
Avenue in Port of Spain with 165 rooms is
due for completion in mid-2009
• A Residence Inn by Marriott, also on
Coblentz Avenue, with 100 rooms, has no
projected completion date as yet
• The Performing Arts Centre Hotel with 60
rooms is due for completion at the end of
2009
• The Regent Star at Piarco with 120 rooms
has a projected completion date of the
third quarter of 2009
• A Cara Suites hotel, also at Piarco, has
had its ground-breaking ceremony, but
has yet to start construction. No date for
completion has yet been set.
There are another three projects in Port of Spain
in various stages of discussion or planning
which, if completed, will add a further 400-
plus rooms to the city’s stock. Two projects
outside the capital are under discussion, one in
Chaguanas and the other in San Fernando.
But the question must be asked: are these
the sort of properties that will be compatible
with Trinidad’s declared objective of becoming
an international conference destination?
Some observers believe that, to achieve the
required balance between meeting facilities
and sleeping accommodation, and to fulfil the
city’s conference potential, at least two more
hotels are needed, of the size and quality of the
Hyatt and Hilton.
The completion of the Performing Arts
Centre on Queens Park South will be a
great addition to Port of Spain’s inventory of
nighttime activities, and it is anticipated that a
broad cycle of Caribbean cultural programmes,
similar to those staged at the Mexican Folkloric
Theatres, will be developed and produced.
Tobago
According to the TDC, figures produced by the
Central Statistical Office—still unacceptably
tardy—show that Tobago’s 2007 stopover
visitors numbered 63,000, a decline of 27 per
cent from 2005 figures. Its cruise passenger
count of 11,644 was 71 per cent down on
2006. With the global economic downturn
the 2008 numbers are expected to show a
further decline.
Prospects for 2009 have also been seriously
affected by the closure of the Tobago Hilton,
which is expected to remain closed for most of
the year while in-depth structural repairs are
carried out.
The loss of almost 30 per cent of the island’s
hotel room inventory is bound to have serious
implications for both sustainable airlift and
market credibility. The basic concept and
construction mistakes made when the property
was originally built must not be repeated;
proper foreshore engineering advice will be
needed to protect the hotel and preserve its
beach in the future.
Since tourism is Tobago’s principal economic
activity, the decline in arrivals is cause for
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