anand rampersad - developing sport tourism in trinidad and tobago
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Developing Sport Tourism
in Trinidad and Tobago:
Issues and Challenges
anand rampersad
University of the West Indies
St. Augustine, Trinidad
European Sport and Tourism Summit
14-15 May 2015
Limerick, Ireland
Trinidad and Tobago Overview
Twin Island Republic
Independence from England 31st August 1962
Republican status 1976
Tropical climate, with rainy season June- December
Area: 5,128 Square miles
Language: English
Populations: 1.3 million (2010 census)
Multi-ethnic- dominant groups Afro- and Indo
Multi-religious and variety of cultural festivals such as carnival and
the Tobago Jazz festival
Differences in the Tourism Products of Trinidad and Tobago
Monthly Air Arrivals 2005-2010
Tourism Policy T&T (2010) Goals
Socio-cultural-use tourism to improve the well being of the population
including the cultural diversity of the society
Economic- use tourism to diversify the economy in terms of its contribution to
GDP in terms of revenue, direct and indirect employment and inter-sectoral
linkages
Environmental- ensuring that the ensuring that the environment is used in a
positive manner and not to its degradation
National Sporting Icons
Draft Sport Tourism Policy (2013) Goals
Focus on active tourism; event sport tourism and nostalgia sport tourism???
Become the hub for sport tourism in the Anglophone
Utilise elite athletes in the branding and marketing of Trinidad and Tobago as a sport tourist destination
Engaging in the support and facilitation of bidding and hosting of events
Develop framework that engages and facilitates the national sporting bodies of Trinidad and Tobago
Draft Sport Tourism 2013 Targets
Significantly increase the contribution of tourism and sport to GDP (Need
Quantification)
Increase visitor arrivals and visitor expenditures (need to quantify visitor
target and Cannot speculate tourist expenditure)
Increase the quantity and quality of jobs generated by the tourism and sports
industry (Need Quantification)
Increase multiplier effect throughout the economy
National Aquatic Centre, Cycling Velodrome
and Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva, Trinidad
(Source: www.islandmix.com)
National Cycling
Velodrome
National Aquatic
Centre
Ato Boldon
Stadium
Issues and Challenges to Developing
Sport Tourism in T&T- Conceptualization
Theoretically, tourism has to be contextualized in the development process
of a post colonial state.
Does tourism reinforce the concept of servitude connected to colonialism and
anti-thesis to the concept of Independence and Republicanism?
Oil and Gas economy
Implications for changing:
Culture
Education
Service provision
Sovereignty vs tourist rights
Issues and Challenges to Developing
Sport Tourism in T&T- Advocacy
Advocacy – who will drive the sport policy?
If government driven, there is a tendency for policies and programmes to be
shelved when governments change.
Are vested interest all on board- ministries, THA etc?
The issue of funding has to be clearly identified.
Will the private sector provided with funding and the freedom to promote
sporting events without governmental involvement?
Perception of importance – how much value do we place on sports and
tourism? Sporting heroes?
Issues and Challenges to Developing
Sport Tourism in T&T- Data and Research
Data – data collection; timeliness
Tourist profiles- supply vs demand likes, interests
Feedback data- allows review of strategies in the planning process
Linkages to wider societal developmental plans
A list of key stakeholders were identified as important in the planning process
but neither universities were mentioned to provided scholarly input!
Issues and Challenges to Developing
Sport Tourism in T&T- Signature Events
What type of events? Mega-Events vs smaller events
Identifying signature events for sustainability e.g. Annual test match- boxing
test match in Melbourne Australia
Will it be cost effective to go this route? Will any assessment be conducted
before decisions are made especially if the government is the main agitator?
Off-season events- for example Barbados provides training for English clubs
such as Hampshire prior to cricket season, other sports
Issues and Challenges to Developing
Sport Tourism in T&T-Marketing
Marketing – unique, attractive, different
How do you sell something as being a totally wow experience to tourists?
Challenge already established countries within the region whose economies
have been built on tourism- such Barbados, Antigua, St. Lucia, Grenada,
Bahamas
New emerging markets such as Cuba- 50 years of ‘secrecy’ to be unveiled.
Issues and Challenges to Developing
Sport Tourism in T&T- Peripheral
Sport tourism can not be developed in a vacuum, it will be affected by issues
facing the tourism industry generally:
Training and staffing – specialized education; tertiary education for all – what
implications does this have for the service industry
Security-crime
Transportation; traffic
Hotel- no hotels in close proximity to National Aquatic Centre and National Cycling
Velodrome
Health facilities – NB: where will injured athletes and participants go? Availability
of Blood etc
Emergency response measures- hospitals, police, fire services, ODPM (Office of
Disaster Preparedness and Management)
Conclusion
The idea of developing sport tourism in Trinidad and
Tobago is welcomed however, if not properly
understood, planned, implemented, monitored and
evaluated it will either be stillborn or worst yet
amount to immense wastage of scare resources.