3 November/December 2016 Issue
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IN THIS ISSUE • Team Trinidad & Tobago declares World Travel Market 2016 a success! • 2016/2017 Cruise ship season begins • TDC hosts Symposium for Tour Operators and Online Travel Agents • Trinidad and Tobago Convention Bureau represents at IMEX 2016
• Trinidad and Tobago Featured in International Media T R I N I D A D
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Welcome
What is TTrends E-Blast? Welcome to Issue #4 of our TTrends E-Blast! The Tourism E-Blast is a monthly editorial piece developed by the Tourism Development Company Limited (TDC) that highlights travel and tourism happenings in Trinidad and Tobago, keeping all within the industry informed. This issue promises to be an exciting one as it features the many marketing campaigns designed by the TDC to promote destination Trinidad and Tobago as well as engender a spirit of national pride among locals and Trinbagonians living abroad.
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What’s T&T Tourism happening News
TEAM TRINIDAD & TOBAGO DECLARES WORLD TRAVEL MARKET 2016 A SUCCESS! World Travel Market (WTM) took place in London from November 7th – 9th 2016. Destination Trinidad and Tobago’s booth at WTM was themed, “Retained from the past, preserved for the future, enjoyed in the present.” The theme paid homage to global travellers’ increased interest in the culture and heritage niche on our islands.
experiences; and held press interviews with international media, including Responsible Travel, Adventure Travel Magazine, National Geographic Traveller, BBC Radio, Trip Advisor and Legardere Sports. To read more about the exciting news coming out of World Travel Market 2016 click here.
For the duration of WTM, the Trinidad and Tobago contingent, held meetings with the travel trade in source markets; hosted events to demonstrate the destination’s food, music and other cultural Photo Caption: Dr Lisa Indar – Director, Tourism and Health Program at the Caribbean Public Health Agency met with the executive members of the UN World Tourism Organisation to introduce them to the Caribbean Tourism and Health Program and to discuss how the UNWTO can assist/collaborate to expose the program globally.
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T&T Tourism News
2016/2017 CRUISE SHIP SEASON BEGINS Trinidad officially marked the beginning of the 2016/2017 cruise season when the luxury cruise liner Sirena made its inaugural visit to the port of Port of Spain on Saturday November 5th, 2016. Twenty-one cruise ship calls with a projected total of 22,000 passengers are set to come to Trinidad this season. Major cruise lines like the Seven Seas Navigator, the World Odyssey and the MSC Poesia are all scheduled to berth in the port of Port of Spain. The cruise season ends in May 2017.
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As is customary, the TDC will deploy visitor guides on the port and at strategic locations in Port of Spain to offer assistance and information to the visitors. There will also be free Wi-Fi, a variety of quay side activities and on-shore tours available for cruise passengers, both in and around the city of Port of Spain.
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STUDENTS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD GET A TASTE OF T&T Students aboard the World Odyssey’s Semester at Sea Programme were treated to an authentic Trinbago cultural experience when the Tourism Development Company hosted the Pan Yard Lime at the PCS Silver Stars Pan Yard in Port of Spain on Sunday 13th November, 2016. The event incorporated key elements of Trinidad and Tobago’s culture including Carnival characters like the midnight robber, moko jumbies, masqueraders in costume, steelband performances by PCS Nitrogen Silver Stars, tassa drumming, the Laventille Rhythm
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Section and limbo dancers. The students and faculty also sampled homemade ice-cream, and other culinary staples like doubles, pelau, corn soup and pastelles. SAS is a study abroad programme on the World Odyssey cruise ship. The vessel first visited Port of Spain in November 2015 with over two hundred students and faculty representing thirty-two countries. To learn more about the Pan Yard Experience, click here.
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T&T Tourism News TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO HOSTS CULINARY PRESS TRIP FOR UK JOURNALISTS A group of UK journalists experienced the unique culinary flavours of Trinidad and Tobago when the Tourism Development Company Limited (TDC) hosted a Culinary Press Trip from Monday 17th-19th October, 2016 to promote Trinidad and Tobago’s culinary, natural and cultural heritage to the world. The group got an opportunity to participate in the Tobago Blue Food Festival and visited some of the island’s historic sites and
attractions. While in Trinidad, they toured the Angostura Rum Distillery and the city of Port of Spain, and also had a chance to sample some of Trinidad and Tobago’s signature street foods such as doubles, corn soup and bake and fish. Additionally, the travel writers had the opportunity to immerse themselves in the lush, culturally-rich community of Lopinot Village.
TDC SAYS ‘THANK YOU’ TO STAR WINNERS The Service. Training. Attitude. Respect. (STAR) Unit would like to express our sincerest appreciation to everyone who participated in the #tntisstarservice STAR Hashtag Campaign. Since August 1st, 2016, the TDC’s STAR Unit launched the #tntisstarservice to reinforce the relationship between excellent customer service and a sustainable tourism product in Trinidad and Tobago. As such, customers have been asked to be on the lookout for great service from professionals employed in the hospitality, food and beverage and retail sectors as well as at our airports, tourist transportation, ferry and water taxi services.
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We would also like to take this opportunity to extend congratulations to the winners of the #tntisstarservice promotion: Sean A. Romany, Latoya Bushe, Ayinde Bereaux, Cyril Billy, Trisha Assiu, Miranda Dookeran, Renatta LaVerne Jones, Kaara Sant, Alberto Hernandez, Natalie Aird, Renee Marshal and Theon Josef Morales. You are all STARS! Exemplary customer service is the game changer in the tourism industry. The type of service we provide to our visitors influences their perception of T&T’s brand as much as the brand of the business that provided the service. Always remember to be a #STAR because when you #STAR everyone #wins!
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T&T Tourism News
TDC HOSTS SYMPOSIUM FOR TOUR OPERATORS AND ONLINE TRAVEL AGENTS Some of the biggest names in the international travel industry visited Trinidad and Tobago from October 9th-14th to participate in a Symposium for Tour Operators and Online Travel Agents (OTAs) from the United States and the United Kingdom. The programme was held in Tobago from October 9th-11th, and continued in Trinidad from October 11th-14th. Delegates represented international companies such as Expedia, Booking.com, Regatta Travel Solutions, TripAdvisor, Mot Mot Travel and Reef and Rainforest Tours. In all, a total of 17 tour operators
were on hand - 12 from the US and 5 from the UK - to network and negotiate with local tourism stakeholders. Designed to attract key leisure and niche tour operators, the Symposium provided a forum for the international companies, to meet and interact with stakeholders from the hospitality, transportation and tour operating segments with a view to enhancing the capacity of their capability in online communications and distribution, branding and revenue management.
Photo Caption: Karen Cardwell (Vail Resorts), Javier Morales (Social Caddy), Vidiah Ramkhelawan (Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Tourism), Carol Johnson (TripAdvisor).
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TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO CONVENTION BUREAU REPRESENTS AT IMEX 2016 A delegation comprising representatives from the Trinidad and Tobago attended the 6th annual IMEX America Tradeshow held at the Sands Expo Convention Center, Las Vegas from October 18th 20th, 2016.
with local stakeholders, meet major players in the international Meetings, Incentives, Conferences & Exhibitions (MICE) market and obtain the latest market intelligence to enhance the destination’s competitiveness.
IMEX America is a worldwide exhibition for incentive travel, meetings and events and is the largest tradeshow in North America for Meetings and Conferences. With business tourism accounting for 15% of visitors to the destination and global business spend targeted to grow 3.9% in 2016, the exhibition provided an opportunity for Trinidad & Tobago to showcase itself as a prime destination for Meetings & Conferences in the Southern Caribbean. IMEX creates an enabling environment to deepen relationships
Nyla Kalliecharan – Sales Manager (Ag.) of the Trinidad and Tobago Convention Bureau said, “Industry events like IMEX America are critical for building awareness of Trinidad & Tobago in the international arena and for generating leads for hosting conferences and events.” She further explained, “Meeting planners are looking for new destinations and unique experiences for their clients and Trinidad and Tobago is perfectly positioned to take advantage of these opportunities.”
Photo Caption: From L-R Charlaine Montano, Director of Sales, Hyatt Regency Trinidad and Nyla Kalliecharan Manager, Sales (Ag.) Tourism Development Company meet major players in the international Meetings, Incentives, Conferences & Exhibitions (MICE) market at IMEX 2016.
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Trinidad and Tobago
Tourism Accommodation Upgrade Project
The Trinidad and Tobago Tourism Accommodation Upgrade Project is designed to provide an incentive to owners of tourism accommodation properties in the form of a partial reimbursement of the cost of upgrade works. It is intended that this programme will encourage owners to bring their properties to a first class standard in accordance with the Trinidad and Tobago Standard Requirements for Tourist Accommodation.
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Eligible properties with 6-150 guestrooms (Hotels & Guesthouses) will receive a 25% reimbursement up to $750,000.
Eligibility Criteria • • • •
Incentive Benefits:
Properties with 1-150 guest bedrooms Properties in operation for more than four (4) years Approval from Town and Country Planning Division Proof of ownership, Board of Inland Revenue (BIR) and Value Added Tax (VAT) Clearance Certificates are necessary Owners must not currently be in receipt of grant funds for upgrades from any other arm or agency of the Government.
• Eligible properties will receive a reimbursement grant as a proportion of the cost of refurbishment for improvements/upgrade works to the interior/exterior of the property.
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Eligible Upgrade Areas include: Guest bedrooms,
Eligible properties with 1-5 guestrooms (Small Tourism Accommodation Properties) will receive a 20% reimbursement up to $75,000.
Bathrooms, Lobby areas, Restaurants, Kitchens and Exterior.
For more information on accessing the incentives, please contact: TRINIDAD - Investment Facilitation Department Tourism Development Company Limited Level 1 Maritime Centre, #29 Tenth Avenue, Barataria Tel.: (868) 675-7034/5/6/7 ext. 176 & 177 • Fax: (868) 675-8851 Website: www.tdc.co.tt
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TOBAGO - Product Development and Destination Unit Division of Tourism and Transportation Tobago House of Assembly #12 Sangster's Hill, Scarborough Tel.: (868) 639-2125/4636 ext. 2109 Fax: (868) 635-1337/639-5432 Website: www.visittobago.gov.tt
www.tdc.co.tt
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T&T Tourism News TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO WINS MULTIPLE CARIBBEAN WORLD TRAVEL & LIVING AWARDS 2016 Trinidad and Tobago has won multiple awards in the Caribbean World Travel & Living Awards 2016. Trinidad and Tobago placed first in three categories, beating four other nominees also vying for the top spot in each category: • • •
Best Honeymoon Islands of the Year Best Golf Islands of the Year Best Carnival Islands of the Year
Two of Tobago’s hotels also won awards. Coco Reef Resort and Spa won Best Luxury Resort of the Year as well as Best Business Resort of the Year. Magdalena Grand Beach and Golf Resort won Best Beach and Golf Resort of the Year. John Jefferis, owner of Coco Reef, Tobago won the Premier Hotelier of the Year Award, while Trinidad-born international recording artiste Billy Ocean won Caribbean Musician of the Year. Now in its 22nd year, the Caribbean World Travel & Living Awards programme is administered by the Caribbean World Travel & Living Magazine, which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year.
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO INVITES THE FRENCH CARIBBEAN ISLANDS TO COME ENJOY T&T A delegation from the Tourism Development Company visited Martinique and Guadelope from November 15th-20th, 2016 on a French Caribbean Roadshow to promote destination Trinidad and Tobago as a culturally-rich vacation destination. With populations of 386,000 and 403,000 respectively, the residents on these islands have significant spending power. Further, available airlift and point of origin data indicate an increase in visitors from the French Caribbean of 34% from 2013 to 2015, suggesting an increased interest in the destination. Read more about Trinidad and Tobago’s visit here.
SECOND NATIONAL WORKSHOP ON THE WORLD HERITAGE CONVENTION HOSTED IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO The second national workshop on the World Heritage Convention (WHC) was held in Trinidad and Tobago from November 1st – 2nd and 8th, 2016. The workshop sensitised participants about the World Heritage Convention and its implications for Trinidad and Tobago as a signatory; outlined the management procedures, guidelines and standards required for inscription and highlighted the benefits of and challenges faced by other countries within the region. At the end of the workshop, participants were able to understand the WHC and requirements for inscription; revised the Trinidad and Tobago’s tentative list of heritage sites; explored new natural and cultural sites for development and prepared a dossier for submission of sites on the tentative list. You can read more about the World Heritage Convention here.
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T&T Tourism News
TDC’S STAR UNIT TRAINS TOURISM FRONTLINE EMPLOYEES The Tourism Development Company (TDC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism and the Service. Training. Attitude. Respect. (STAR) Unit continued to demonstrate its commitment to the promotion of excellent customer service in Trinidad and Tobago when it hosted Professional Development workshops for tourism frontline employees in November. Over 60 frontline employees, representing Tourism Transport Providers and the Chaguaramas Development Authority (CDA) participated in the customer training workshops known as Promises at the TDC’s office in Barataria.
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The Promises workshop is a two-day session which targets tourism employees who are in direct contact with customers and visitors. Supported by assessments as well as mentoring and coaching, the Promises workshop allowed participants to understand the importance of customer service, their roles as tourism ambassadors, the key concepts and techniques of effective hospitality and how their service can impact on the visitors’ perception of Trinidad and Tobago. Read more about the STAR programmes and the Promises workshops, please click here.
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TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO FEATURED IN INTERNATIONAL MEDIA For the month of November Trinidad and Tobago has been featured in two North-American digital publications. Sylvia Obell of BuzzFeed, featured Tobago in a BuzzFeed post entitled, 23 Travel Photos That Will Inspire Your Squad To Get In Formation. The image was sourced from Instagram travel blog @soulsociety. Trinidad and Tobago was featured in a two-part series by Teresa Bergen for Pique newsmagazine in British Colombia on October 23rd and 27th, 2016. The first article, entitled Trinidad and Tobago: Going to the Panyard featured the history of the steelpan and how it has evolved into the modern-day pan scene. The second article celebrated Tobago’s cocoa and chocolate in a piece entitled, Tobago: A sweet destination.
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The Pique articles follow Teresa Bergen’s visit to Trinidad and Tobago for the American Travel Writers Freelance (SATW) Council Meeting 2016 from 13th-17th September 2016. You can view the articles via the following links: 1. 23 Travel Photos That Will Inspire Your Squad to Get In Formation 2. Trinidad and Tobago: Going to the Panyard 3. Tobago: A sweet destination
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T&T – FIRST CARIBBEAN NATION TO HOST ENCOUNTER OF THE INTER-AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN NETWORK OF SMALL HOTELS On Wednesday, October 19th, 2016, regional tourism practitioners came together for the Fourth Encounter of the Inter-American and Caribbean Network of Small Hotels (INCAPH)which was held at the University Inn and Conference Centre at the UWI St. Augustine Campus. This was the first time that an INCAPH Encounter was held in a Caribbean nation. The theme for the event was Sustainability, Marketing and Competitiveness of Small Hotels. Over a two-day period, the delegates looked at the trends and developments in the hospitality and leisure industry,
social media trends and tools, sustainable tourism through agriculture, and the benefits of being a Green Hotel. Delegates were also introduced to proposed developmental projects and resources available through the Organisation of American States (OAS), Association of Caribbean States (ACS) and Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism (CAST). The meeting’s participants represented the following countries: Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, St Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Honduras, Ecuador, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Colombia, Panama, Guatemala and Trinidad and Tobago.
Photo Caption: From left to right: 1. Richard Campbell, Chief Culture & Tourism Department of Economic Development at the OAS; Belinda Charles, Business Enhancement and Facilitation Specialist at the TDC; Denise Aleong-Thomas, Vice President of the InterAmerican & Caribbean Network of Small Hotels; Nicole Marrder, President of the Inter-American & Caribbean Network of Small Hotels; Vidiah Ramkhelawan, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism; The Honourable Dominic Fedee, Minister of Tourism, Information & Broadcasting, St. Lucia and Sherma Mac Dougall Williams, Product Development Manager of the Tobago House of Assembly.
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2 contact information
Tourism Development Company Limited
Division of Tourism and Transportation, Tobago
Level 1, Maritime Centre #29 Tenth Avenue, Barataria Republic of Trinidad and Tobago Tel: (868) 675-7034-7
12 Sangster’s Hill, Scarborough Tel: 868- 639-5126 Fax: 868-639-4369
Piarco International Airport Office
Crown Point International Airport. Phone: 868-639-0509 Cruise Ship Complex, Scarborough Phone: 868-635-0934 Website: www.visittobago.gov.tt
Tourist Information Office
Tel: (868) 669-5196/6044, (868) 800-4TNT Email: info@tdc.co.tt
Ministry of Tourism Levels 8 & 9, Tower C, International Waterfront Complex 1 Wrightson Road, Port of Spain Trinidad and Tobago Tel: (868) 624-1403, 624-3151, 624-4792, 625-0963 Fax: (868) 625-1825, 625-3894 Email: mintourism@tourism.gov.tt touresearch@tourism.gov.tt
Send us your feedback: info@tdc.co.tt Social Media Links www.facebook.com/islandsoftrinidadandtobago/ #gotrinbago @gotrinbago www.tdc.co.tt
www.tdc.co.tt
PANTONE COLOURS #009B67 340 C #ED037C 213 C #FFE01B 7404 C #ED1B2D
1788 C
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www.tdc.co.tt
November/December 2016 Issue