Fortunately there is lots of capacity on the BA and Monarch services to Tobago. The Monarch service is now a direct flight since the decision by the Grenada government to stop subsidising the shared Tobago-Grenada service.
Words fail me regarding the total incompetence of the THA and it's related tourism department. Rather than ranting myself, let me quote from the Trinidad Guardian:
Tobago hoteliers are filled with anxiety and worry over what they are saying can spell the end of tourism in the island, its main revenue-earner. Tourism Minister Stephen Cadiz says Virgin Atlantic Airlines planned to pull its summer service to Tobago from March next year because of a lack of marketing support from the Tobago House of Assembly (THA).
Karl Pilstl, owner/managing director of Blue Haven, a 55-room five-star luxury hotel, Bacolet, said: “The formula is simple, no flights, no guests. I still can’t believe it is even being considered. If it is, it will mean the end of tourism in Tobago. The whole island, which depends on tourism, will be affected. “Fishermen, entertainers, taxi-drivers, those selling organic produce will lose their incomes. All hoteliers will tell you the same thing.”
Pilstl, begging for something to be put in place, recalled the good years of tourism in Tobago and said it had to do with plenty flights operating at the time. He said T&T’s Caribbean Airlines supported other islands in the region more than Tobago.
The hotelier said around this time, all his rooms were usually booked but now there were rooms available for the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Told that Tourism Minister Stephen Cadiz was blaming the THA for Virgin pulling out, he said: “We are at a stage where we should not be looking to throw blame on anyone. We need to act. We need to put something in place to prevent the terrible consequences this will have.”
Cadiz, in an earlier newspaper interview, said that blow to Tobago’s tourism industry could have been avoided if the THA had co-operated with his ministry.