Soca on the Seas to boost Tourism and Culture

[Monk BANzai]

Two ministries have invested over TT$400,000 into the inaugural Soca on the Seas three-day all-inclusive Carnival event to be held aboard Royal Caribbean’s Enchantment of the Seas.

Speaking at the launch of the event on Monday afternoon, Dr. Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, Minister of Community Development, Culture and the Arts, revealed that her Ministry, together with the Ministry of Tourism, has invested TT$450,000 to support the event

She said one of the expected returns from this investment is the attraction of tourists to Trinidad and Tobago for Carnival aboard Royal Caribbean.

“The expected return on investment we expect to see is more tourists coming to our country, to expose the culture of our country to a market that we really want to invest and therefore more arrivals from the areas the cruise will visit and ultimately we would like to see the cruise liner docked in Trinidad for Carnival,” she said.

more here:
http://www.looptt.com/content/soca-seas ... nd-culture

[zoom rader]

Another PNM slush fund, pockets been filled

[zoom rader]

Another PNM slush fund, pockets been filled

[eliteauto]

Another PNM slush fund, pockets been filled

what are your thoughts on the Maracas Bay project?

[Miktay]

Another PNM slush fund, pockets been filled

Agree w/ZR...

Thiz iz pure dotishness. And a waste of scarce $.

[Habit7]

$400,000 is a cheap office party at any ministry.

[Gladiator]

Most cruises already "all inclusive".... all you can eat and all you can drink and first class entertainment. This would only attract persons with the particular interest, they will just sell to the Caribbean folk that may appreciate the "culture"

[shake d livin wake d dead]

look how more men gona get brace for visa

[Dizzy28]

We send much more on trying to get the questionable CPL finals here though!!!

[trump2016]

.....

[Miktay]

What the ROI on the $400K?

[eliteauto]

What the ROI on the $400K?

The average tourist coming for the week of Carnival spends about $7000US so if this nets 10 extra tourists it's break even

[Miktay]

What the ROI on the $400K?

The average tourist coming for the week of Carnival spends about $7000US so if this nets 10 extra tourists it's break even

A Big IF.

But why would we want to attract tourists in the peak season...when most airline seats, hotels and guest houses are booked?

[zoom rader]

What the ROI on the $400K?

The average tourist coming for the week of Carnival spends about $7000US so if this nets 10 extra tourists it's break even

Yes , $7000uS that benefits very little to the agv citizens while big business gobbles up the main share .

Meanwhile citizens are left scared with a Carnival culture that is responsible for our present predicament of this crimewave.

[Gladiator]

What the ROI on the $400K?

The average tourist coming for the week of Carnival spends about $7000US so if this nets 10 extra tourists it's break even

Source of this info ???

[zoom rader]

What the ROI on the $400K?

The average tourist coming for the week of Carnival spends about $7000US so if this nets 10 extra tourists it's break even

Source of this info ???

It's about right if your a high end tourist.
By the time you pay for fights, hotels, mass costumes and fetes it's easy to reach this figure.

But as I said very few of it reaches the agv citizen.

Carnival does not benefit trin.

[eliteauto]

What the ROI on the $400K?

The average tourist coming for the week of Carnival spends about $7000US so if this nets 10 extra tourists it's break even

Source of this info ???

Me, from my personal experience, if you want an average breakdown: Most visitors arrive the week before, Monday is a big day because of MM after that most come on the Thursday and Friday, avg hotel rooms are $6-800US a night, Villas are $600US, Boutique hotels $500US, small guesthouses $300US, multiply that by 6 nights, fetes are avg $150US each some more some less most of the visitors I deal with go an average of 6 fetes, almost all play jouvert ($100US) about 70% play mas (>$400US) that's not factoring transportation, dining and misc shopping


For ppl saying 10 extra visitors in a big "If" you clearly know nothing about our increased annual visitors, as for flights and accommodation that's a silly question as well, our Carnival/Island is not over saturated we can and should try to invite as much as we can, hotels are the last resort of savvy experienced visitors so there is room for development of more guesthouses, B&B's and boutique hotels and there are many Gov't incentives to invest in same just do the research As for ZR's nonsensical response about benefitting big business, err they are citizens too, and you're wrong lots of small businesses and service providers benefit from carnival.

[eliteauto]

btw $7K US is a high end tourist?????? shut up ZR you know nothing about Carnival you hate it , you're against it so don't pretend to know anything about the business end of it

[zoom rader]

btw $7K US is a high end tourist?????? shut up ZR you know nothing about Carnival you hate it , you're against it so don't pretend to know anything about the business end of it

It's how ppl see a high end tourist, agv citizens will see spending 7k us as high. There are deep pockets as some will travel on private jet and yachts and pay top hotel rates.

Harrylal can't sell that amount of bodie in a year and Kwame guns and amo costing more than that for the year

[EmilioA]

Harrylal can't sell that amount of bodie in a year

He can if Kamla gave him a govt contract.

[eliteauto]

Zoom boy it have Trinis spending more than that for carnival, not you, not me (well I issa sufferer) but trust me avg working ppl spending that normal normal (or is it tchupid tchupid) and ain't even realising it adding up, the $7K US tourist isn't high end either he's the avg person/returning resident some can afford it easily and some save all year for the season. The high-end guys spend twice that easily, there are $1000US a night villas that are already booked for next year and the ppl there ain't anyone you'd see in a newspaper

As for the OP, I find this investment silly, that $400K can be spent in other ways that guarantee much better returns re: tourism. I can only hope at some point we stop doing the same thing over and over and those in power listen to the real stakeholders in the industry

[zoom rader]

Let's face it trini is not tourist friendly as our population don't don't how to treat ppl or deal with them. Service is not a word in trini language
When you travel as a paying tourist to other Caribbean islands you see a different level of a tourist friendly culture ( expect Barbados if ur trin).

[eurotuner]

Zoom does make some good point sometimes....but he out he league here
He has 0 idea how much people spend for carnival, it trickles down from the top to bottom.
Carnival is HUGE!!!!!

[JF.K]

$400,000 is a cheap office party at any ministry.

I think we should always use comparisons like this to support government's spending

[eliteauto]

Let's face it trini is not tourist friendly as our population don't don't how to treat ppl or deal with them. Service is not a word in trini language
When you travel as a paying tourist to other Caribbean islands you see a different level of a tourist friendly culture ( expect Barbados if ur trin).

I'm guessing you mean "except" if so you're wrong again:
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/20160517 ... ist-source

Trinidad and Tobago is Barbados’ fastest growing source of tourists, a Central Bank of Barbados (CBB) release said last week. Tourist arrivals from Trinidad and Tobago increased 34.2 per cent in the first quarter (Q1) of 2016, followed by the United States which increased 13.1 per cent, and the UK 9.8 per cent, the CBB said. Combined arrivals from “other countries” rose 16.8 per cent. Barbados’ visitors from other Caribbean Community (Caricom) countries rose 2.7 per cent.
Behind Europe and North America, in that order, Caricom is Barbados’ third largest tourist source market giving the Caribbean island 19,300 visitors in Q1 2016, up from 17,200 in Q1 2015. T&T sent 7,000 visitors in Q1 2016 versus 5,200 in Q1 2015.

[Miktay]

Zoom does make some good point sometimes....but he out he league here
He has 0 idea how much people spend for carnival, it trickles down from the top to bottom.
Carnival is HUGE!!!!!

Last time I check Cval was 3% of GDP...so we not talking something that can replace oil & gas & light manufacturing.

So HUGE iza relative term. Maybe huge compared to other tourist attractions sa.. Asa Wright birdwatching...but otherwise huge not really that huge.

Trickle down doesnt trickle down as much anymore. The All inclusive fetes and cval bands are run by a small group of people...Tribe...Legends...R&C...Island People...Machel...Lara etc. Avg vendors not getting sales. For eg thiz year onna beating sun Cval Tues afternoon Savannah coconut men were getting few sales despite close proximity to the lunch stop of two major Cval bands.

And the circle iz getting smaller

In 2016, 25 years after the Hart children took over the band, they will be making another hugely significant step when they join forces with rivals Tribe Carnival, by way of Tribe’s companion band Bliss. This means that Tribe will be managing some elements of Harts’ back end operations like road management, distribution and technology systems. There will also be a new all-inclusive section produced by Bliss in Harts.

http://www.guardian.co.tt/lifestyle/201 ... l-leverage

For ppl saying 10 extra visitors in a big "If" you clearly know nothing about our increased annual visitors, as for flights and accommodation that's a silly question as well, our Carnival/Island is not over saturated we can and should try to invite as much as we can, hotels are the last resort of savvy experienced visitors so there is room for development of more guesthouses, B&B's and boutique hotels and there are many Gov't incentives to invest in same just do the research As for ZR's nonsensical response about benefitting big business, err they are citizens too, and you're wrong lots of small businesses and service providers benefit from carnival.

IMHO it iz a BIG...IF. Anyone who tells you different iz smoking serious spliff.

1. Tdad in direct competition w/two other major Cvals that occur at the same time: Rio & NOrleans. Both bigger than Tdad.
2. Few room spaces available 4 Cval. Try booking on Cval Friday and you will find out. Guesthouses are booked 1 year in advance mostly fm repeat customers...and depending on location. Hyatt, Hilton, Crowne Plaza, Ambassador all booked.
3. Added to this rental cars not available, private taxis working full time, few xs costumes in the premier Cval bands, and u will arrive at the logical conclusion that most tourist accommodation resources 1 week prior to Cval are at full capacity.

Which brings us back to the question. If u belive the gubbament hype about $400K bringing in xtra Cval visitors how are they going 2b accomodated?

FULLY BOOKED FOR CARNIVAL
By JULIEN NEAVES Sunday, February 8 2015

BOOKED up!

That is the word from hoteliers in Port-of-Spain and environs regarding tourist bookings for Carnival 2015, with a number of places having been fully booked months ago.

Executive Director of the Trinidad Hotels, Restaurants and Tourism Association (THRTA), Louanna Chai-Alves, reported that hotels in Port-of-Spain and environs have full occupancy for Carnival up to February 17 (Carnival Tuesday) 99.9 percent of hotel rooms are sold out. She reported that THRTA has 18 member hotels in Port-of-Spain and environs representing 1,600 hotel rooms.

She noted the rooms, reserved for four to five nights, had been paid for before the end of 2014. The occupancy increases from this Wednesday, February 11, and there is full occupancy from Carnival Friday. On Ash Wednesday the majority of visitors depart.

“This has been the trend for the past four to five years,” she said.

Chai-Alves noted that Port-of-Spain is more or less at capacity for five nights so it is difficult to expand any more in that direction and expressed hope that through the Tourism Development Company (TDC), they could extend sales outside of five-night period. She said visitors can be persuaded to come two to three weeks before Carnival weekend and enjoy pre-Carnival activities like Panorama and Calypso shows. To accomplish this would involve packaging and promotion of these events and the THRTA would have to work very closely with the TDC to put these on their calendar of activities, she said.

http://newsday.co.tt/news/0,206655.html

[Monk BANzai]

im just here looking at the timing of this "initiative" and wondering if this has anything to do with the recent sacking of the TDC Chairman.

The mechanics of it as you guys discussed is prudent. But more and more, bit by bit..this current Govt is becoming a "do as I say not as I do" administration.

Fleck..what do i know about politics?

[zoom rader]

^^^ Glad you are catching on as to how this government is using "do as I say" routine.

Its the making of a banana republic dictatorship, state employees and then citizens next

[GixxerMan]

they should name it "the middle passage" ...

[Ranjeev]

Hmm