PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – For the new fiscal year 2019/2020, Tourism Trinidad Limited’s (TTL) main goals are to increase visitor arrivals by seven percent to 380,000, attain an average hotel occupancy rate of 64 percent and grow visitor expenditure.
This builds on the current year’s tourism performance as Trinidad has already recorded 276,269 international visitors (an increase of two percent over 2018) for the period January to September.
Howard Chin Lee, chairman of the Tourism Trinidad said that “This is an ambitious agenda for Trinidad’s tourism. Our focus is on developing a clearly identifiable Trinidad ‘brand’ to raise awareness of the destination throughout the world, deliver an outstanding visitor experience and establish Trinidad as a destination of choice. To this end, we have developed a comprehensive roadmap on how we can partner with government and stakeholders to take our tourism sector to new heights.”
Tourism Trinidad is also developing a framework to assist local communities to build on their tourism offerings to attract more visitors to this destination, create more jobs and strengthen its overall contribution to the national economy. In this regard, a one-year strategic action plan has been developed and 19 new hires have been on-boarded to the company, to help drive the strategic agenda of the organization.
Three key niches have been identified to grow tourism:
- Sports
- Events
- Conferences (Business)
The company will soon launch its brand identity and website for destination Trinidad with marketing campaigns rolling out in major international markets around the globe. These campaigns, including a diaspora campaign, aim to boost arrivals in the coming months, and in the lead up to Carnival 2020, and attract visitors year-round to the destination.
Next year presents the company with some once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to showcase Trinidad around the world. In April 2020 Trinidad will be the venue for thousands of international hashers (trail runners) from over 75 countries. Promotional activity is being developed to encourage those attending the event to book their return vacation and will showcase Trinidad as an ideal location for world-class events and, by extension, a superb sporting and event destination.
Tourism Trinidad is currently collaborating with SportTT, ministry of community development, culture and the arts and other stakeholders to fully maximise every opportunity for the hosting of sporting, cultural and other events.
The company will also be working with key partners, including air carriers and the international travel trade, to deliver better and more sustained connectivity, introduce new routes and airlines to the destination; therein facilitating growth in visitor arrivals.
Plans are underway to revamp the company’s digital platforms to allow for the targeting of potential visitors with personalised messages and offers; all designed to appeal to their specific interests. The aim is to attract a monthly average of 2,500 unique visitors to the website and attain a reach of 30 million views through powerful global influencers.
Tourism Trinidad also plans to ramp up its tourism education programs, increase awareness of the value and benefits of tourism at a national level, and inculcate a positive tourism mindset in every Trinidadian.
The local tourism sector will clearly have a very important role to play in the future of the destination and the opportunities offered by this industry to the economy, to employment, and social development will be enormous. Tourism Trinidad is well poised to drive the industry forward and is committed to ensuring that the tourism sector’s potential is fully realized.
Established in June 2017 and a state enterprise under the ministry of tourism, the mandate of Tourism Trinidad Limited is as follows:
- Development and marketing of Trinidad’s tourism offerings and the promotion of Destination Trinidad;
- Attracting tourism investment into Trinidad;
- Promoting education, awareness, and co-operation in advancing expansion through tourism.
