We
can see that the general consensus from your comments indicate that T&T has
much to offer. Most of you mention the beaches, particularly Maracas and Tobago
beaches, hiking, waterfall trails, going down the islands, fishing, turtle
watching, cuisine and nightlife. These are indeed popular tourists’
destinations and activities.
However it is a fact that the twin island offers a
lot more and a much greater variety of things to do and places to visit. In
Trinidad some places of interest include the Pitch Lake, Paramin, Lopinot,
Clever Woods, the Digity mud volcanoes and the temple in the sea while some of
Tobago’s sightseeing includes Fort James, Plymouth Mystery Tomb, Flagstaff
Hill, Englishman’s Bay and Little Tobago . Visits to the Asa Wright Nature
Centre in the North of Trinidad and the Wild Fowl Trust in the South promote
eco-tourism and the conservation of wildlife. Saut D’eau, a small island just
of the north coast of Trinidad’s mainland is considered a hidden treasure
for nature seeking and hiking trails.
This leads me to the question; do locals
and foreigners fully appreciate and take advantage of tourism opportunities? If
not, why do you think this is so? Do you think that the efforts by the Tourism
Development Company (TDC) and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investment
(MTII) are sufficient and successful in promoting and marketing the tourism
sector on the twin island?
You know because it is that Trinbago are 2 beautiful Islands it is easy to forget that there is much more to do than visit the beaches and to check out the night life. As you mentioned the mud volcanoes, I had actually forgotten about that and that is something that is worth seeing. How often do you get to tell people that you have seen a mud volcanoes?
ReplyDeleteAs a local I got to say that it is easy to take for granted the things that our twin Islands have to offer. Because like Nevaal mentioned the mud volcanoes I as well had forgotten about that and can not remember the last time that I saw them or even the pitch lake. Now I am realising just how little of my own island I know, because the only places I visit often are the club's and maracas beach.
ReplyDeleteI think that the TDC and MTII are only partly successful. The TDC only seems to promote it's main attraction such as Maracas beach and the other places of interest are not really seen as a priority. Because as we have seen from the comments all the other places of interest have been forgotten. They continue to upgrade works to maracas beach and other main attractions but they have not done any major changes to the other places of interest that you mentioned. This is a problem in my opinion and it will affect the number of tourists coming to our Islands.
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ReplyDeleteThat is a valid point that the person above mentioned above TDC not fixing up there other sites. I mean if they gave all there other sites as much attention as they did with maracas, can you emagine just how much more beautiful these places will look. Not to mention how much more people they will get to visit them, tourist and local alike. I am willing to bet that more than half of Trinbago only visit the beaches and rivers and they forget about the rest.
ReplyDeleteYes d mud volcanoes is very interesting to see...there is a lot of excited stuff for tourism to offer
ReplyDeleteAll this talk about the mud volcanoes make me remember when I was younger after 1 had erupted my foot got suck in the mud and I loss my favourite Batman slippers. I still toting over that yes. But on with my main point, I don't know if it is that we are the only place in the world that has mud volcanoes, but if we are that should be big news all over the world. Other places with volcanoes when they erupt people die and loose there homes, here all that happens is the place just becomes a full of mud. So this alone should be bringing in all the tourist then the beaches. But like someone said about TDC not taking care of the place and not giving equal treatment.
ReplyDeleteLol I am sorry about your Batman slippers. But for me I am not a fan of the beach or part life and I thought this was all it was to Trinidad. Until I saw pictures of the temple in the sea and the Lord Hunaman murti. That left me speechless and for me that is a must see. But I would not have known of its existence if not for this blog. I do not see anyone making mention of it and they should for the people want to visit Trinidad but for more cultural reasons.
ReplyDeleteLol I am sorry about your Batman slippers. But for me I am not a fan of the beach or part life and I thought this was all it was to Trinidad. Until I saw pictures of the temple in the sea and the Lord Hunaman murti. That left me speechless and for me that is a must see. But I would not have known of its existence if not for this blog. I do not see anyone making mention of it and they should for the people want to visit Trinidad but for more cultural reasons.
ReplyDeleteYes Definitely there are alot of interesting tourist spots in our twin island trinbago. However, the promotional aspect is lacking. More efforts should be done to promote theses tourist spots.
ReplyDeleteDo locals and foreigners fully appreciate and take advantage of tourism opportunities?
ReplyDeleteMost locals DO NOT fully appreciate tourism opportunities. It shows in their response to simple requests like DO NOT LITTER, PRACTICE PROPER LOGGING & FARMING TECHNIQUES, etc. which as we all know have a direct impact on eco-systems present in our islands. There is almost no respect for anything nature - related again which, as a result, would partially answer the question of the level of appreciation for tourist attractions.
I have had the opportunity to visit Brigand Hill Lighthouse, a very small portion of The Nariva Swamp, Los Iros Mud Volcanoes, The Aripo Savannas, Knolley's Tunnel and a few others. Our twin island is willing to share with us its natural beauties but the generation we live in now only persue the "beauties" offered by night life activities.
Foreigners will most likely partake in all aspects of tourism including the night life activities (clubs, performing arts, etc.), beaches, some nature trails and other things.
There are local TV programmes and social media sites that highlight tourism in all aspects, so I do believe that promotion is somewhat adequate. The problem lies within the formulation and implementation strategies for management of eco-tourism. TDC and affiliated agencies need to use the powers that are vested in them and do something worthwile for our eco-tourism sector.
For example, the board walk at Fishing Pond Village that has been collapsed and dilapidated for a number of years needs to be refurbished. This board walk crosses over a shallow swamp and leads to the shoreline which is one of the prime turtle watching spots in the country.
In my opinion,
- Certain aspects of tourism are highlighted via mass media more than others, example Carnival.
- It is only where money can be made in large amounts that we see the most amount of promotion relating to a certain sector of the tourism industry.
- With regard to eco-tourism, there is a blatant disrespect for our nature sites (mostly by locals). This is shown by rampant pollution, abuse of resources, no management strategies in place for keeping the environment as natural and clean as possible.
More needs to be done by all governing agencies and by citizens to FORMULATE AND IMPLEMENT management strategies to safeguard our tourism industry and by extension the places of interest that help promote the industry.
@the anonymous commenter above, you should be helping the person who posted this blog. I think no further comments are needed. You said it all. Typical Trinis. But with all that being said, in my opinion I truly believe "Tourism" begins at home and it has to do with the way were brought parents and the way they educate their children. Could be wrong. DR
DeleteIndeed Mr. David. I share your view wholistically with your quote "Tourism begins at home"
DeleteIn my opinion tourism opportunities are mostly utilized by foreigners, locals minutely embark upon it. With respect to the least presence of locals taking advantage of tourism opportunities is due to a transportation issue. For example I am a local the only tourism opportunity I was exposed to was during my childhood and it was because of the school's annual field trip. If i really want to go to these beautiful places I imagined I can utilize public transportation however this service is not very consistent.
ReplyDeleteTDC and MTII in my opinion can do a better job to promote the tourism sector. My view is if the website is used to promote tourism as someone mentioned earlier, it can be a beautiful thing to look at but what does that really mean it is a good alternative but we need more than a website. TDC can look at other factors to attract tourism such as further developing the transportation services to these places by working together with the governing Ministry. Another suggestion is to train personnel to educate the public on our tourist attractions at workshops and the public would be better able to speak about it. MTII can further develop existing industries to create unique goods and services which can cause locals and foreigners coming back for the unique experience. For example our food industry has a very unique cuisine Why not invest in it? This venture can create positive growth in our economy.
In my opinion, i think that the authorities are doing a fair pormoting job, but ther is still room for improvement. I do not think that the locals appreciate it as much as the tourists. Tourists mainly come for carnival and our beaches but a liitle more emphasis should be placed on places like Paramin, Asa Wright, Lopinot and the Temple in the sea and many other significant landmarks so that they can fully enjoy and appreciate what our island has to offer.
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