Shot in the Arm for Tobago Tourism?

[Paul Tallet]

http://www.thetobagonews.com/news/250-m ... 41201.html

Any 'constructive' comments anybody?

Regards

[Glyn Kirpalani]

In theory this looks great on paper, especially if the funds are genuinely a grant that does not need to be repaid, as opposed to a loan as in previous failed offers of government aid to hotels during my era. In my experience, however, the application procedure will be awe-shockingly onerous and hoteliers will need to dig out their dead granny's shoe-sizes plus a whole lot more besides, plus it will almost certainly be restricted to only those resorts approved by the department of tourism. This means that such larger, usually locally owned and badly managed resorts (hence why, in part, they are broke in the first place) will get the funds, while those well managed and often smaller resorts will get none, creating a competitive disadvantage. That said, most cash given out will most likely be "diverted" to some hoteliers personal lifestyle costs anyway, so perhaps not (he says, over-cynically?). If only the hotels in trouble had not over-expanded using credit and had re-invested their funds on repairs and upgrades during the boom times when the sun was shining, they might not be in such hock now. But we live in an imperfect world, so we must hope that as many resorts as possible manage to eek out some of this cash and then manage to "Magdalena-Grand-ize" their resorts. If nothing else, any cash which is doled out is a bit less to be stolen by the politrickians in corrupt schemes (minus, of course, the cash which will be doled out to those resorts in which the politrickians own a stake, whose applications will, miraculously, be rapidly accepted).

[Chris Runciman]

Dear Glyn
In the last round of grants very few 'small' businesses applied. Maybe the process was daunting or complicated or they wished to remain 'below the radar'. One local business in Castara did pursue it and spent the money on improving his business. He was the only person from the village that applied...................or at least who put the money to making a tangible difference!

[Glyn Kirpalani]

Chris, yes, I am guilty of being over cynical, bitter and twisted. There are always a few bona fide beneficiaries of these schemes. I did see the application form for the previous grant scheme and I take my hat off to anyone who perservered and got there, corruption-free!

But at the end of the day most of us know what is really needed to restore Tobago to a tourism-growth state, as it was in the early noughties - security. Even a major public effort to alter the global tourism industry's perception of the security situation for tourists in Tobago would help. To build new, or refurbish old, hotels or resorts with the current situation is like re-arranging the deckchairs on the Titanic.

The promised $50 million TT per annum of the grants would pay for an extra 277 new Special Reserve Police officers to patrol Tobago's tourist sites and areas, a massive increase in the size of the tiny island force, even with no radios or or vehicles to support their beat patrols. I base this on an estimated monthly cost of salaries, HR admin, uniforms etc of $15,000 per officer. Once recruited, deployed and in light of the superb global PR for the island brought about by this and the consequent drop in crimes both petty and serious, the hoteliers and restauranteurs etc would be better able to self-fund some improvements, using cash from a rapid increase in tourist sales.

In my opinion, throwing money at the problem of deilapidated hotels is both literally and metaphorically, just papering over the cracks. All the old arguments about how it is more dangerous on the streets of London etc etc etc are a red herring, even if they can sometimes be accurate - it is the internet-surfing public perception of the dangers which matter, and Tobago has experienced more than its fair share of bad headlines - it is time for some major-league positive ones, beyond a lick of paint and a new a/c unit.

[Steve Wooler]

Hi Paul

It's been a struggle, but I felt it prudent to wait a few days before responding to your post and the article. Perhaps better to reply from the head rather than the heart. I've penned several responses but scrapped them all because I can't hide my true feelings. However, I totally endorse everything that Glyn has said. He is absolutely spot-on.

[Paul Tallet]

Hi all

Yes, Glyn has got it pretty spot on according to the opinions I hear in Tobago.

My understanding of this from local businesses I have talked to is that investment for business development is rather pointless as they have no need to upscale now that tourism is struggling ... there is no capacity to be filled.

The general view seems to be that this money should be directed towards the promotion of tourism and, as Glyn says, security.

Naturally, should this be successful then the businesses could self-invest from the profits rather than accepting these grants that have to be paid back.

Apart from that, all I can say is that the weather here is sublime

Regards

[Glyn Kirpalani]

It took me a few years to realise what is really going on behind the scenes in the T&T tourism industry - it seems to be comprised of 2 sets of owners: the hard working honest local and foreign owners or investors who genuinely strive to make a living/investment from their property, by luring in tourists and employing folk, with no hidden agenda and - for a time at least until "the awakening" - no knowledge of what I am about to say.

Then there are the bigger fish, who are either one of, or a family member of, one of the few hundred top business and political figures who run the islands and are best placed to launder as much of the massive gas and oil revenues as possible, and in whose operations bona fide foreign tourists would not only be unnecessary, but might even hinder the progress of the schemes and scams to get hold of the massive amounts of cash floating about.

Hence these all-powerful political and business magnates are not interested in protecting foreign jet-passenger tourists - beyond paying a little lip service to the issue by schemes such as the grants scheme, to make it look like they are doing something, to garner a few votes from the honest folks.

But in reality if the $50 million went to 277 new police officers, the beneficiaries would be those officers and their families, and the general Tobago economy which would bounce through the increased salaries and better security leading to increased foreign tourism. Very little would end up back in the magnates pockets, as their hotels are unattractive and have never been and never will be, well run - on purpose.

On the other hand, laundering as much as possible of the grant money through their own or family members' resorts will produce the desired goal of "legally" getting hold of the gas money. Plus, there are side benefits too eg their own/family members' construction companies getting the lucrative refurb contracts, either for real or on a "ghost" basis.

A recent example of this kind of contract corruption was the government minister who signed off a contract to pull a crashed fire engine from a ditch at a cost of $6 MILLION. The value of the engine new had been 2 million and when the story broke, salvage companies came forward to say that they had wanted the job for a mere $50 thousand, its real value. Nobody is ever imprisoned for scams which involve corruption and kickbacks, but they can do without the scandal, so doing it via development or tourism or construction grants is less hassle and cleaner. And every few years, new grants schemes spring up to tap even more of the loot, and so on.

Most of us are aware of one of the largest hotels in Tobago which seldom if ever sees any foreign guests and features in few or no (?) holiday brochures, which I shall not name. How does this magnate-owned hotel survive for decades, with no visible income other than several government "conferences" every year? Are the invoices for the conferences signed off by government ministers at massively inflated rates, then the excess shared about? Who knows, but everyone who spends enough time in T&T encounters super-posh shops and businesses with no obvious means of sustenance or custom. People used to tell me that they were there for money-laundering and I did not get it at first, as I assumed they meant money from drugs trading - this may be true in some cases, but in the tourism/business-government relationship, the laundered cash is mostly done on a contract basis.

When the oil and gas money runs out there will be a genuine need for a Barbados type economy based on tourism, but until then the movers and shakers in T&T are doing very nicely thank you, and have little interest in genuinely sucking in foreign tourists, who would just complicate their schemes. Those of you who struggled like me to make an honest buck in the tourism business, without backhanders and with no contacts in high places, will struggle forever. The best places will always suck in some tourists through the sheer class and quality of their experience, or by the relative safety of protection from the community of mainly-honest folks (eg Castara), but it would not be wise to hold one's breath in expectation of any sincere efforts from the government to assist with looking after the pleasure-factor of the foreign tourists in any meaningful way, that does not benefit themselves first. I did say I was cynical!

[Paul Tallet]

Perhaps, without compromising the independence of this forum, we could encourage support for the small Tobago Tourism businesses?

Regards

[Hugh S]

Or for taking the suggestion to better use the funds for more security and police.

[Glyn Kirpalani]

Most of "the good guys" have tried to persuade and influence those in power over the years to do something meaningful instead of "ole talk", publicly and privately. I have corresponded and met with the past top police officers, tourism and chief secretaries of the THA and I know others have too including someone closely connected with this website

But they make all the right noises when you speak with them, but nothing ever happens of any consequence. Why not? For the reasons I gave - fighting crime against tourists or locals won't put money in their pockets, and will simply leach away the available government cash which they can access for their own purposes. It is the same reason that there is no toilet paper in the public schools or hospital wards while the islands are the richest in the southern caribbean - also why the police have no modern equipment - how would paying for any of that that make politrickians rich? They have bodyguards, drivers, fortified luxury homes and fly abroad for treatment and education so they don't worry about ordinary folks, and they definitely do not care about foreign tourists.

Meanwhile, the slow and steady collapse in global gas prices due to shale gas discoveries around the world, and the reduction in US imports of gas from T&T, may bankrupt the country sooner rather than later. Assuming societal chaos does not ensue when the money runs out to pay for anything - in particular the make-work schemes which feed the poor folks in lieu of a meaningful welfare state - the islands might start to pay serious attention to developing a tourism industry. There is always hope, and the hard work of the many, which may triumph over the few rotten eggs

[Chris Runciman]

All so true Glyn.................money, like oil and gas, rises to the top...........................
To apply for a grant one has to be a member of the Chamber of commerce I believe?
How many smaller local businesses are members?
That said, I am going to apply for membership, nothing ventured etc!

[Glyn Kirpalani]

The last grant form I looked at required one's resort to be approved/registered by the division of tourism, which will involve an application, some small fees and inspections by the division and fire brigade etc. There will be a detailed list of requirements for your property to fulfil, some were plainly a bit daft but some made sense.

Being a Brit (?) you may also be required to show x years (think it was 3) of fully audited accounts and receipts for your business and property tax payments, locally, as part of the grant application. Since I have been rambling on about corruption in this thread (sorry!), it is also fair to balance this out by stating that in my experience many foreign owners of resorts were also corrupt in that they were tax dodgers and flitted back and forth between their home country and Tobago regularly, in a (usually successful) attempt to circumvent local tax and immigration requirements.

I am not saying for one moment that you are doing this Chris as I have no idea about you or your resort and I am sure you are a saint But I make the point that you will need some official records of compliance to be eligible for a grant, unless you are a relative of someone who can make this happen for you of course.

Good luck, keep us posted if you go for it

[Chris Runciman]

Thankyou for your concerns Glyn. From the day we started on our venture we went straight! Not the cheapest or easiest option I can assure you, BUT, I did not want any talk of foreigners taking our jobs etc etc. We are a registered company on Tobago and believe me do we pay taxes!Corporation, Business Levy, Green tax, National Insurance/Health for our housekeeper.............Property tax nobody has paid for a couple of years now as the authourities in Roxborough attempt the changeover from the huge ledgers they have always used, to some sort of digital system!
Saint Christopher

[Glyn Kirpalani]

Saint Christopher, the patron saint of Tobago travel, love it! Well done, we were straight too and it meant that we could lobby for better services etc without sheepishness, because we were paying for them in part. Many owners both local and foreign are honest too, and the larger resorts also get stung for 10% hotel room tax (do they still apply?) so in that sense honest hoteliers and resorts contribute a decent chunk of revenue to the coffers.

But we knew some foreign owners who used to hide all the bookings payments by taking them abroad and not declaring them in either T&T or their own country of abode, or local owners who simply banged up a resort in their yard and took rentals without registering a business or paying any taxes locally, their argument would be that it would be less for the crooks to steal (forgetting too that at least some of it does pay for services etc). To be honest I think that there is so much "under the radar" room letting going on that it weakens the tourism lobby, as these people cannot then publicly demand better provision of police, or other services. Tax enforcement is also far too lax of course. Keep up the good work.