In explaining the magnitude of the problem, Griffith noted said one hotel in Tobago had only two guests for the month of October.
The minister was speaking at the Hyatt hotel in Port of Spain at a ceremony to install member of a new board for the Tourism Development Company (TDC), which is headed by George Stanley Baird.
Griffith also said a new UK Airline Passenger Duty (APD) and is likely to continue to hurt the industry. "The APD has already resulted in a 12 per cent reduction in visitors to the region since 2009, according to the Caribbean Tourism Organisation.," he said, adding that it could get worse..
“Indeed, Germany is also looking at putting in place its own APD.” Griffith said.
Griffith quoted statistics from the UN World Tourism Organisation to show that while worldwide international tourist arrivals grew by seven per cent in 2010 it was much lower for the Caribbean region.
He said local tour operators have suffered as much as a 34 per cent decrease in inbound business.” It can no longer be business as usual in T&T’s tourism sector, Griffith stated.
In interviews with JYOTI both the minister and Baird agreed that while there needs to be a more aggressive marketing push to encourage visitors to choose Trinidad and Tobago the board should look at domestic tourism as an option.
Members of the new Board:
• George Stanley Baird—Chairman
• Larry Nath
• Kevin Ratiram
• Reisha Ramnarine Lewis
• Alimuddin Mohammed
• Kevin Kenny
• Brian Ali
• Michelle Palmer-Keizer
• Judith Mark
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