The news that the key people from Sandals are coming in for a chat with the political elite and the financially able is reassuring. Then again, as over-abundance of ambition can lead to messy situations we’d want to make sure the people’s business is also on the table. Not that Tobago’s options are all that clear or promising. And its that lack of promise which prompted this lay analysis: Of large hotel potential to positively or negatively impact Tobago’s tourism.
Not surprisingly, everything to come suggests caution. Granted, at first the Sandals premise looks rosy. A big new hotel with international appeal is a destination’s ticket to achieving big arrival numbers. But, as we now know tourism that benefits a destination requires far more than enabling headcount and a few exclusive beds. This begs the question to drive al other questions; Is Sandals® going to be benefactor or bane to Tobago’s prospects? Will the ordinary people gain, or lose by hosting Sandals?
To recollect, Environment Tobago wasn’t all that thrilled when the Jamaican was first promised the Buccoo Golden Grove Estate. Our view, reflected in public sentiment then, still remains; Tobago doesn’t have a whole lot of land for its future use, tourism has not delivered appreciably to the mainstream - despite its potential, and as concerns cash - the one positive the hospitality trade may bring, Tobago is still not positioned to collect much less keep, and therefore is unable to invest in itself for the longterm. Which, lest this slips, does not mean its raw assets should be expended to a third party.
Some think the current political structure is the root of Tobago’s inability to prosper. And supports the overall gut feeling that the Trinidad based central government is less attuned to Tobago’s real needs. Others take that thought further, suggesting that Trinidad’s heavy handed interference is allowing Sandal’s to break with formal process - avoid the group having to meet/negotiate directly with the true stakeholder community. To be fair, there are other perspectives to this: Trinidad has long effected the tourism policies, and funded the infrastructure investments which can facilitate big brands like Sandals.
Then there’s the economic trickle - meaning, cash that a Sandals may bring into the Tobago economy. Is that pot of gold real or imaginary? The question can answered via basic spreadsheet: At the end of the Sandals tenure at Bon Accord, do the business projections show tangible gain? If so for whom? And, if ours, is it on a scale that can justify parting with the Bon Accord/ Golden Grove?
Frankly, with the current global financial situation in turmoil. With rumours of Sandals Resorts International feeling out the market for a buyer for the brand, any deal Trinidad cuts for Tobago, requires some serious crystal ball skills. This, clearly is big decision time, which in turn requires dedicated effort and factual data. Our concern here is stacked, a tower of concern. Allowing the arithmetic works, what guarantees are the current dealmakers giving the Trinidad and Tobago public that Sandals will be a good tenant? Will their product truly serve the needs of the local public over the longterm? Will they be able to bind future owners of the Sandals brand to honour sentiments made this year? Or will other Sandals owers only seek to secure shareholder bottomline?
Considerations go further than matters economic. Tobago will be asked to keep and carry itself in line with the promise of the brand. This is easier said than done if social and environmental issues are taken into account. Will there be even more burden to the House of Assembly to hire cleaning/beautification gangs? Remember, not too long ago sitting THA executives were bemoaning the high level of its recurring expenditure - their wage bill.
Big hotel incursion also impacts cost nd quality of local living. Let’s look at an example - of having to thin out resources in order to cater to demand. We’ll use water. Over the spate of recent Ed and Shouter Baptist holidays - and this keep in mind, is our mid dry season - many residents of rural Tobago were denied full service in their taps. The bulk of the supply was diverted to the crowded western end of Tobago. Nobody complained probably because they were just busy campaigning for the next slate of politicians.
While, in the eyes of WASA this was successfully enacted, those quiet days of inconvenience to the general public will not go away, they portend the new normal. In fact when tourism takes off (that old promise), the focus of water delivery may target the high spending visitor crowd. This is something that may become a permanent arrangement if we are not careful. And its not like water will become cheaper if the supply dwindles, so that’s a loss on top of a loss.
A few paragraphs back we spoke about the global situation - bad and getting even worse in the developed countries. Sandals will be promising its customer base an all-inclusive holiday in a pristine natural setting. “Get away from the wars, the worry and the madding crowd”. Sweet - if you’re inside the estate. Not so sweet if you’re outside those walls hoping to cash in on some visitor dollars.
So how is this all inclusive thing going to work? The odds of curry crab and dumpling and fry fish and bake being sent to the estate from the local shops are infinitesimal (big word for a tiny chance). So we have a potential zone of conflict here. Just as what might happen if the hotel buys its lettuce from the strawberry farm folks down at Cove estate, rather than the local lads toiling their traditional gardens. What we’re essentially saying here, is that while socio-economic issues aren’t the exact concern of the big hotels, they should be dealt with by the planners who are facilitating their entrenchment. And this should be well thought out, and well in place long before the bulldozers go in to clear land.
We go on. The rationale for bringing in the big hotels are, that the small man in the tourism trade will benefit from the visibility the branded guys generate; spin-off is the term used. Let’s consider that in some detail. The average person from elsewhere intending to travel for a holiday to Tobago is now competent and dependent (they go together) in using a booking engine to close the deal he or she is interested in.
The thing is the small guy cannot escape the burdensome pay-wall (or cut) demanded by the giant in the industry. But if they can that’s not all. The small hoteliers and guest house owners are now faced with having to monitor their internet (marketing) effort hourly. Not a bad price to pay for making money, you’ll say. And there’s more to this. The big brands have enough power lock in the seats on the few lines willing to make long flights.
So its translates to a gamble where the small guy pays for the tech to market his/her product but come closing time there is no flight space as the combination booking systems, discount incentives and other perks cater to the big hotels. Growth then for your small man here is not a given. In the end we’d want to truly know if we’re building a business runway for the big brands under the misconception that will benefit us.
Such considerations are easily lost in the hoopla of courting big projects, so let’s drop direct questions to the parties going to discuss the future of Tobago. Who is going to bear the brunt of marketing Tobago if the big brands are the default beneficiaries? How much adjustment to the existing culture and way of life is expected. What is the burden to the local taxpayer to keep a visitor happy and if known, is it in lie with the Comprehensive Economic Plan - with the populations plan for themselves.
There is also that other issue; climate change. Resilience is a pretty understudied concept in Tobago. Proof of this exists in the steady deterioration of the reefs, forest, wetlands, rivers and all the life within these spaces. While we do agree with the standing theory - that tourism can enable the protection of these assets, the reality is places like the Buccoo Marine Park and other once pristine locales do not benefit from tourism traffic.
Again, we urge that active defence (preservation, conservation, reinstating) mechanisms are rolled out long before the Sandals. Admittedly these are early days in this second courting of the brand. But even if no research is entered into, weaknesses have long become apparent. Tobago may want the big hotels but until we understand how to keep the money they generate we’ll be giving away more value than we’re getting.
In a following post we’ll examine ‘Just’ development: Preparing the tourism to become an industry;that actually benefits the Tobago population now and for the future.