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Caribbean Islands Tourism
The tourism sector played a rather minor role in the economy of
Trinidad and Tobago compared with other Commonwealth Caribbean
islands. In the mid-1980s, tourism represented only 3 percent of
GDP, slightly above the 1960 level of 2 percent but below the 1970
level of 4 percent. Annual foreign exchange earnings derived from
tourism averaged about US$200 million during the mid-1980s, making
the sector the third largest earner behind oil and overseas
investment. As the most southern and eastern of the Caribbean
islands, Trinidad and Tobago did not enjoy the close proximity to
the large North American tourist market of other Commonwealth
Caribbean nations such as the Bahamas and Jamaica. Nonetheless,
tourists were attracted to Trinidad and Tobago to enjoy its worldfamous carnival, steelband and calypso music, Hindu and Muslim
festivals, and the unspoiled natural beauty of Tobago. Government
policies have historically sought to limit and control tourist
activity through prohibiting private beaches, casino gambling, and
land sales to foreigners (although the latter was available through
long-term leases). Substantial tourist growth was realized in the
1960s as a result of fiscal incentives offered under the Hotel
Development Act of 1963. The advent of the oil boom in the 1970s
diverted attention away from tourism as a source of foreign
exchange revenues; as a result, by the mid-1980s no major hotel
construction projects had occurred in nearly a decade. By the late
1980s, however, the government looked to tourism as a way to
diversify away from a dependence on oil-based export revenues and
as a stimulus to domestic agriculture and employment.
Trinidad and Tobago recorded 187,090 tourist arrivals in 1985,
a number that was rather typical for the first half of the decade.
In addition, over 6,000 cruise ship visitors were registered, which
was well below the 28,000 level of 1981. Over half of all tourists
were classified as private holiday tourists; this category
consisted primarily of expatriate Trinidadians who stayed at
private residences while visiting the country. Roughly 20 percent
of all arrivals were for business purposes, and only about 10
percent were vacationing hotel tourists. North Americans comprised
about 45 percent of tourist arrivals, of which the United States
share was over 30 percent. Tourists from the Commonwealth Caribbean
represented 35 percent of total arrivals, followed by West
Europeans and South Americans. Trinidadians also frequented Tobago
in large numbers as well, creating a rather large domestic tourist
subsector. Some 45,000 Trinidadians traveled to neighboring Tobago
during 1985. Hotel occupancy rates in the mid-1980s averaged 55
percent, below the industry's estimated break-even point of 60
percent.
The lack of physical infrastructure for the tourist industry
was the main obstacle to further development of the sector. The
country contained only about 2,000 hotel rooms and 300 guest rooms,
or about one-fifth of the number of rooms in Jamaica. Tobago, much
more dependent on tourism than Trinidad, possessed only 600 rooms
and also suffered from water distribution problems. Although
government plans called for 3,000 first-class hotel rooms to be
operative by 1990, some observers doubted that this goal could be
achieved. The lack of adequate airports also hindered tourism. Both
of the country's major airports needed some upgrading and expansion
to handle the growth of tourism envisioned by the government. The
Piarco International Airport, located twenty-six kilometers east of
Port-of-Spain, was the nation's principal facility. As of 1987, the
government had not yet implemented longstanding plans for the
complete expansion and renovation of Piarco. These plans included
five-star hotels, longer and emergency runways, aircraft
maintenance facilities, a bonded industrial park, and a cargo
warehouse, all with the objective of making Piarco the air
transportation hub of the Eastern Caribbean and northern South
America. Crown Point Airport, located on Tobago, was the nation's
other major airport. Although it received upgrading in the 1980s,
these limited provisions were not expected to allow it to
accommodate greatly increased international traffic. For example,
in 1987 Tobago received only one direct flight a week from Miami.
Ports represented another tourist infrastructure problem. One
of the reasons for the sharp decline in cruise ship arrivals in the
early 1980s was the congested conditions at the Port-of-Spain
docks. This problem was expected to be partially relieved in 1988
with the completion of the deepening of the inner harbor of
Tobago's major port, Scarborough, allowing the smaller island to
receive large cruise ships. Tobago's infrastructure for tourism was
expected to expand in general after 1987 as a consequence of the
1986 election of a native Tobagonian as prime minister.
As with the rest of the economy, government involvement in the
tourist industry was quite widespread. The most prominent example
of government's role in tourism was its ownership of the British
West Indian Airways (BWIA). BWIA, the oldest airline in the
Caribbean, not only served Trinidad and Tobago but also was a
principal carrier for other Eastern Caribbean islands. Despite its
important role in the country's tourist industry, BWIA and the
government's Tourist Board pursued only limited promotional
activities overseas, especially in Western Europe; this was
perceived to have hindered the performance of the sector. The
government also owned or had an equity share in many of the
islands' hotels. Since 1960 the government's Trinidad and Tobago
Hotel and Catering School has trained workers for the tourist
industry. In addition, the government operated the Hotel Management
Company, offering various inn services to smaller lodging
operations on a contract basis.
Data as of November 1987
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