TTA Accused of Plagiarism

Tobago Villa Makes Forbes Magazine

Villa Being, photo taken from Forbes

Tobago has made it to one of America's largest and most prestigious Business magazines, Forbes. If you are probably wondering what is the significance of such an entry in the "capitalist tool", consider that the site is frequented by 27 million unique individuals every month, something that might be equivalent to the reach of several years of Tourism Division's advertisement of this island.

Featured in the Lifestyle Section of the Magazine is story on one of our vacation destinations dubbed as "The Most Fabulous Vacation Villa in Tobago: Villa Being". This Villa is located in the lush tropical hills some where in Arnos Vale.

As at the time of writing, Forbes would have recorded approximately 16,000 views of this entry. This exposure is equivalent to approximately 26% of Tobago's population.

TobagoDaily joins with the rest of Tobago in saying that we are proud in seeing such gratifying achievement of our very own, published in one of the world's most renowned marketing magazine. Expectantly, we hope that it can contribute in further exposing our most beautiful and serene Island to the world amidst the claims of falling arrivals and hotel bookings for Tobago.

Click link to read the full Article 

Tobago, a Crime Haven!

Once again the capacity of the Tobago Police force has been called into question. Yesterday the double murder of Richard and Grace Wheeler shock the foundations of the quiet community of Carnbee and instantly send trimmers of conversations around the island and popular social media platforms.  The serenity of Tobago was broken,  the murders became a trending topic,  pessimistic pundits and clairvoyants of doom pronounced on the impending impact to tourism, Tobago's bread and butter.  Surely, there must be an advisory.  But amids the thick sludge of pandemonium and prophetic pronouncements of doom, there was one aspect that stood out, perhaps not to many but deserving of highlight. 

With almost an immediate response,  the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) summoned a team the Homicide Bureau led by   Snr Supt Oswald Cudjoe to spear head investigation in Tobago. At one end this may be seen as welcomed reinforcements to the Homicide officers located in Tobago, however on the other side, it can been perceived as an inadequacy of the Tobago police officers to properly conduct investigative activities and speaks to the capacity and in some cases the competence of the officers stationed in Tobago.  Indeed this is not an isolated development, but somewhat a recurring decimal over the years that questions the functional capacity of Tobago's police officers and their ability and preparedness to investigative "serious" crimes.  Surely, one can question whether this move is as a result of the many unsolved murders in the island of Tobago.   

In recent times, Tobago have seen a marked increase in murders and crimes that includes the use of guns.  Numerous heinous crimes against visitors and nationals have gone unsolved in Tobago. Tobago's very own Mr. Mt. Pleasant,  the two young men who were discovered by a religious leader at French fort in 2009, Kenneth George and his partner Daislyn Hunte who were shot dead at their home, Patrick Dickson, Nigel Fraser shot dead in the capital of Tobago at his business in broad day light, and the list can go on and on.  Tobago murder toll at times reaching a figure of 15 more than one per month.  Visitors and Foreigners living on the island has not been spared as they too have become easy targets of criminals. German nationals Hubertus Keil and his wife Birgid Keil were hacked death at Bacolet Bay. The Greens, in 2009 also fell victims to vicious attacks of criminals though surviving. Peter Taut, a German national was beaten to death and buried near his home at Bacolet, and in 2008, Swedish couple Anna Sundsval, 62, and her companion Ake Alsoon, 73, were chopped to death at Bon Accord.  Sadly, most of these crimes remain unsolved with an explanation of robbery as the usual motive.  

Theorists of rational choice provides a macro and micro perspective on crime in that persons choose to engage in crime because it can be rewarding, easy, satisfying and fun. Moreover, central to this theory,is the premise that people are rational beings whose behaviour can be controlled or modified by a fear of punishment. But how can these criminals be punished if at first we cannot catch them? The likelihood of being caught and prosecuted is low and thus  the island has become a safe haven for criminals. 

  

Indeed, the island has become a "crime haven", where criminals are almost assured a free ticket of not being caught. The island's boarders are porous beyond imagination, and security forces reflects a weaken state with detection levels low and murders and other serious crimes remain unsolved.  Certainly, crime should not be addressed for the sole reason of Tourism or for international "prettiness", but rather crime should be addressed firstly for the safety and peace of its citizens and the prosperity of the nation. The time has come not only for reflection and introspection but also action. Action must be taken to restore peace to Tobago. Action must be taken to strengthen the security apparatus on the island and increase the training to officers and equipping them with the necessary tools to function optimally. Plans should move apace to make Tobago's boarders impermeable. Its time to send a strong signal to those would-be criminals, let them feel a sense of unease, create an atmosphere restlessness in them that stifles criminal intent and return Tobago to its calm, let the citizens breath again, let them enjoy the serenity they once knew. 

Tobago demands more of its officers. 

Apollo Arrives in Tobago: A Boost for Tourism

Kuoni-Apollo Airline made its inaugural flight from Scandinavia to Tobago on Tuesday.

It is expected to touch down at the ANR Robinson International Airport around 7.45 p.m. with a full load of passengers.

Tourism and Transportation Secretary Tracy Davidson-Celestine held a brief reception in the airport's international departure lounge welcoming the 240 passengers and flight crew. Among the passengers were 40 golfers who will spend two weeks at the Magdalena Grand Beach and Golf Resort.

She said to date 2,489 passengers have been booked to use the charter services out of Stockholm to March 2014 and will result in a 25 per cent increase in visitor arrivals for the winter season.

Tobago Hotel & Tourism Association disappointed with budget for tourism

The Tobago Hotel & Tourism Association has stated its displeasure with the largest ever budget in the nation’s history. Finance Minister Larry Howai, last Monday, told the nation of his intention to spend $61.4bn over the next fiscal year.

In a press release issued earlier this week, the association is clear in its position that the budget under the theme “Sustaining Growth, Securing Prosperity” made it certain that the government does not understand the potential of the tourism industry in the Tobago scenario.

While many of our regional competitors are enjoying marketing budgets in excess of US$50m, Trinidad &Tobago was allocated TT$91m (UIS$14m) for marketing and all other tourism initiatives in the budget, which the association deems unacceptable.

Germans get Tobago Tourism Insight

Secretary of Tourism and Transportation.
Tracy Davidson-Celestine

Tobago is open for business, says Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Assemblyman Tracy Davidson-Celestine.

Davidson-Celestine is the Deputy Chief Secretary of the THA and Secretary of Tourism and Transportation.

The Secretary made the statement while addressing German journalists during a press conference at the Internationale Tourismusbörse (ITB) last Wednesday in Berlin.

Davidson-Celestine outlined various initiatives taking place within Tobago's tourism industry to stimulate growth and increase the destination's competitiveness in the international travel market.

One area of focus she mentioned is increasing and improving the quality of the destination's room stock.

Attracting foreign investment, particularly in relation to hotel development, is critical to this process she said.

"There are currently 16 sites across the island that have been identified for hotel development through an initiative geared toward attracting international investment in the hotel industry," she said.

Davidson-Celestine also took the opportunity to highlight some of the island's more attractive features. She noted the growth of the romance niche over the last year with the introduction of the Tobago Bridal Association.

She provided an overview of the sports tourism niche, focusing on conventional sports such as cycling, along with the unconventional and goat and crab racing unique to Tobago.

Davidson-Celestine was a member of the Trinidad and Tobago delegation that attended the annual tourism and travel trade convention in Germany.

She was the head of the THA delegation that comprised the Administrator, Division of Tourism and Transportation, Claire Williams, other Division officials and tourism stakeholders.

Also in attendance were the Minister of Tourism Stephen Cadiz; Ambassador to Germany Garvin Nicholas; Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism Julianna Boodram and other officials from the Ministry and the Tourism Development Company (TDC).

ITB is the largest travel trade show in the world, attracting more than 170,000 visitors and 113,000 trade visitors. Trinidad and Tobago was among approximately 11,000 exhibitors representing 180 countries.

German travellers represent 12 per cent of Tobago's international arrivals.

The Division of Tourism and Transportation participates in ITB annually, along with the Ministry of Tourism and the TDC to maintain its presence in the German market and develop and cultivate relationships with key industry stakeholders.

Source:Trinidadexpress

Tobago hotels get big Carnival boost

Hotels and guest houses did well during the Carnival 2013 season and will continue that trend during the post-Carnival cooldown period. This is from president of the Tobago Hotel and Tourism Association Nicholas Hardwicke in an e-mail response to the T&T Guardian. Hardwicke said that during the Carnival season, occupancy levels for mainstream hotels and guest houses were in excess of 70 per cent with some hotels even being filled to capacity. 

“But this will decrease significantly in a week to ten days’ time once the Carnival cooldown subsides,” he added. Hardwicke said Tobago hotels generally fill up four to five days before Carnival Monday and Tuesday with visitors from Trinidad who do not wish to participate in the festivities. He said immediately after Carnival there is an even bigger influx of visitors that comes for the post-Carnival cooldown.

He said there was a good mix or foreigners and Trinidadian visitors in hotels. He said foreigners tend to favour the larger hotels and villas whereas visitors from Trinidad generally stay at guest houses, self-catered apartments and smaller hotels. He also said hotels also saw greater number of families visiting from the UK since this Carnival coincided with school half-term holidays in the UK. 

Hardwicke said Tobago should see another sizeable influx of visitors during the Easter period and again in late April for the Tobago Jazz Experience. In a telephone interview with the T&T Guardian, general manager of the Magdalena Grand Beach Resort Vince Angelo said the hotel experienced the expected number of visitors during and after the Carnival 2013 season. He said the biggest visitor arrival days were between February 9 and February 11 and it has been very busy since. 

He said the weekend before Carnival Monday and Tuesday, many families came to the hotel to get away from the hectic atmosphere in Trinidad. Now, in the post-Carnival period, Angelo said visitors include Trinidadians as well as tourists from the UK and Europe. He said Trinidadians at the hotel are using this time to kick back and take it easy after the days of partying and revelry. Rooms in the hotel were also booked for weddings over the weekend.

General manager of Kariwak Village Allan Clovis told the T&T Guardian that the number of visitors to the hotel was no different from any other year. He said rooms as the hotel were full prior to and during the Carnival season. Clovis said during this the post-Carnival cooldown period, there is a mixture of visitors to the hotel from Trinidad as well as tourists from other countries.

Leslie Amedee, general manger of Turtle Beach Tobago, said in a telephone interview that during the Carnival season the hotel did very well in terms of occupancy. He said occupancy levels were around 90 per cent during Carnival and he expected them to drop to around 45 per cent by the end of February. Amedee said the hotel is now preparing to accommodate Easter visitors. At present there are not many Trinidadians staying at the hotel.

He said around this time, the hotel houses many conference and business groups, retreat groups and couples.

Source:Guardian

German couple still traumatised after Pigeon Point accident

A German couple who suffered an attack at the hands of a cutlass wielding bandit is still traumatised months after the dreaded event at Pigeon Point Resort. The incident occurred on November 22 last year and the couple was visiting Tobago for the first time.

According to a police report obtained by this newspaper, the two foreigners, Bernd Haaf and his wife Ilona Fischer, had just left the jetty at the popular resort and were on bicycles when they were attacked by a man with a 'Rasta hairstyle' who alighted from bushes and accosted them. "The man then took the cutlass and cut the victim's blue and grey knapsack which he was wearing at the time and which contained one cannon digital camera valued 200 Euros, a pair of binoculars, two pairs of sunglasses, a USB stick and a red jersey," the report stated.

The man swung the cutlass and dealt seventy-one year-old Haaf a blow to his left hand before escaping through nearby bushes. Haaf sustained injury to his left thumb finger which was completely severed in the process. He was subsequently treated at the Scarborough Hospital and discharged.

Speaking with Tobago News from their home in Germany, his wife explained that because the thumb could not be rescued, her husband will be disabled in all his activities in future. "He still suffers pain and can hardly use his left hand. This was our first trip to Tobago – it should be a paradise - but our holidays ended after only three days with a nightmare and we are still traumatised by this terrible incident changing our life in a negative way," she lamented.

She said, since the attack, the have been suffering from depressions, panic attacks and disordered sleep.

The couple was however, grateful for assistance received from Brett Kenny of Radical Sports as well as Nicolas Hardwicke of the Tobago Hotel Association and Sandra Hendrickson of the Division of Tourism in securing the next possible return flight to Germany.

"In this connection, we would like to point out that we paid an entrance fee for entering the park and thought that we are safe in this area, the more so as there was a barrier at the entrance and security staff. But it was not safe enough," the victim noted.

Tobago News tried to could not ascertain if any arrests has been made in relation to the case but was unsuccessful.

Source:thetobagonews

Tobago Tourism Stakeholders wants New International Airport.

ANR Robinson Airport-Tobago

Tourism stakeholders in Tobago have today collectively called on the Airport Authority to furnish the people and the industry of tourism with a new ANR Robinson international airport. Tobago tourism stakeholders' voice was called into action over  the Airport Authority's announcement of  'patching and fixing' the 30 year old ANR Robinson Airport, an activity which is to commence shortly at the cost of one hundred and fifty million.  

The Tobago Tourism stakeholders indicated that it was not fair to the people of Tobago nor the industry to have a sub standard international airport "patched and fix'. Chief Secretary Orville London also said that the airport is in need of attention and sited the current state of the Airport for Virgin Atlantic's pull out. However, the airport authority have indicated that the fixing of the airport is only an interim intervention. The Airport Authority further noted that the renovations are geared to increase international arrivals as the Airport authority must ensure it is economical and efficient. They also stated that the interim face lift is part of a more comprehensive overhaul that should take place one flights are increased to the island. 

Over the years tourism has continued to be the main income earner for Tobago, however, in recent times the sector has been plagued with numerous problems, the last being the withdrawal of Virgin Atlantic flights to the Island. 

Tobago story wins

Tobago story wins US tourism award

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Tobago_story_wins_US_tourism_award-158387705.html