Sandals Thread!

[zoom rader]

Keep these Sandals slave owners away from Trinidad n bago

[hover11]

Take your hotel and GO!!!!!

Sent from my SM-N986U1 using TriniTuner mobile app

[pugboy]

old man butch stewart was a smart fella
he got air jamaica to run with plenty govt concessions to support tourists coming to his resorts
and when airline industry took a nosedive they bamboozle manning to let cal bail them out
is so they does run business riding on backs of others
would t be surprised if part of that manning cal bailout incl free stays at sandals for them

[zoom rader]

Keep Sandals slave owners away from Yoga

[88sins]

fack sandals
I gonna open a hotel, and call it barefoot
All I need is a pnm or UNC kakahole to finance it

[st7]

fack sandals
I gonna open a hotel, and call it barefoot
All I need is a pnm or UNC kakahole to finance it

nah nah.. call it slippers.

[hover11]

Hours before a scheduled meeting with Sandals Resorts owner Adam Stewart, Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), Farley Augustine, made it clear: if Sandals is serious about reinvesting in Tobago, the luxury hotel chain must bring its own money.

For more: https://www.cnc3.co.tt/farley-to-sandal ... own-money/

[pugboy]

and not pay heavily subsidized utility rates

[hover11]

Them worse than leeches , coming into another man country and expecting free thing from taxpayers

[pugboy]

We cant take it personally, they in business to make money and they figured out a way to have a modernized infrastructure which works
the island govts are to blame for being weak and allowing them to strong arm them,
granted the govts are often in a weaker negotiating position since they too backward to start with

Guyana for example gave exxon a very disadvantaged deal but to be fair many companies were invited but did not want to spend the money/risk to explore there for many years

Them worse than leeches , coming into another man country and expecting free thing from taxpayers

[88sins]

Hours before a scheduled meeting with Sandals Resorts owner Adam Stewart, Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), Farley Augustine, made it clear: if Sandals is serious about reinvesting in Tobago, the luxury hotel chain must bring its own money.

For more: https://www.cnc3.co.tt/farley-to-sandal ... 123870.jpg

Sandals will NEVER as spend their own money to invest in Tobago. They too accustomed to the usual nonsense of convincing idiot leaders of small countries to bear all the expenses while Sandals reaps the rewards and accolades, and they know that IF they spend their money to build it, that it's probable they won't recoup the total cost of the investment before it flops.

[bluefete]

Hours before a scheduled meeting with Sandals Resorts owner Adam Stewart, Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), Farley Augustine, made it clear: if Sandals is serious about reinvesting in Tobago, the luxury hotel chain must bring its own money.

For more: https://www.cnc3.co.tt/farley-to-sandal ... 123870.jpg

Sandals will NEVER as spend their own money to invest in Tobago. They too accustomed to the usual nonsense of convincing idiot leaders of small countries to bear all the expenses while Sandals reaps the rewards and accolades, and they know that IF they spend their money to build it, that it's probable they won't recoup the total cost of the investment before it flops.

Sandals spent their own money in St. Vincent - both to buy a pre-existing property (US$14 million) and to rebuild it (US$100 million).

Our DOTISH leaders wanted to follow the Hyatt and Hilton model where taxpayers pay for everything and give it over to Sandals with great terms of endearment.

[pugboy]

probably because our leaders accustomed to those schemes as some is passed back under the table too…

[Dizzy28]

Hours before a scheduled meeting with Sandals Resorts owner Adam Stewart, Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), Farley Augustine, made it clear: if Sandals is serious about reinvesting in Tobago, the luxury hotel chain must bring its own money.

For more: https://www.cnc3.co.tt/farley-to-sandal ... 123870.jpg

Sandals will NEVER as spend their own money to invest in Tobago. They too accustomed to the usual nonsense of convincing idiot leaders of small countries to bear all the expenses while Sandals reaps the rewards and accolades, and they know that IF they spend their money to build it, that it's probable they won't recoup the total cost of the investment before it flops.

Sandals spent their own money in St. Vincent - both to buy a pre-existing property (US$14 million) and to rebuild it (US$100 million).

Our DOTISH leaders wanted to follow the Hyatt and Hilton model where taxpayers pay for everything and give it over to Sandals with great terms of endearment.

The split on Hilton is 70% Trinidad, 30% Hilton. You don't think that GORTT hasn't made back the spend on Hilton earning 70cents on the dollar?

[paid_influencer]

how allyuh feel about stuwatee stunt with sandals today?

I feel them tobagonians have a deep mistrust of any trinidad-based politician. stuwatee might sink the pnm as kamla did back in 2015

[pugboy]

what happened today with stuey and sandals?

[The_Honourable]

The old deal is scrapped, it would be a new one.

T&T, Sandals to restart Tobago talks from scratch

Prime Minister Stuart Young has confirmed that Sandals Resorts International may once again be considering Tobago for a future resort development. The decision followed a meeting with Sandals Executive Chairman Adam Stewart and Tobago stakeholders, where parties agreed to restart discussions from a “clean slate.”

The meeting concluded with what Young described as a “Tobago Sandals Development Resolution,” signed by all present stakeholders. “We the leaders and representatives of sectors and interest groups in Tobago have collectively agreed that it is in the best interest of Tobago, for us to invite the Sandals Group for discussions and negotiations,” Young said.

Only Watson Duke and Curtis Douglas left the meeting early but had already expressed their support.

Young said Stewart gave a presentation outlining recent Sandals projects across the region, including developments in Curaçao, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, and Jamaica. “It was not a presentation geared for Tobago.”

Sandals currently has five new hotel projects underway in the Caribbean. “I told him, make Tobago the sixth,” Young said.

Stewart also expressed willingness to invest Sandals’ own capital in any potential Tobago project. “He said their usual model is to invest in the plant—the hotel itself. That’s significant,” Young said. “From a central government point of view, it would be a great investment, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself.”

The Prime Minister added that no specific site had yet been identified for a new resort. “This is us inviting them to look at Tobago again. It’s early stages,” he said.

Tobago House of Assembly Chief Secretary Farley Augustine who spoke as he left the meeting, but before the Prime Minister’s media conference, echoed the sentiment that this was a fresh approach. “We all agreed and signed, saying we are going to invite Sandals to return to the table so that we could have conversation,” Augustine said. “This is not a return to the old arrangements. We’re starting from scratch.”

Augustine was clear that the past rejection of Sandals by Tobagonians stemmed not from opposition to the brand, but from dissatisfaction with the terms of the original deal. “To be honest, I don’t think Tobagonians objected to Sandals. I think they objected to what the deals were then,” he said.

He also noted Stewart’s statement that Sandals typically builds and owns its resorts. “He said they only have one operation where they don’t own the plant. That’s significant,” Augustine said, referencing past concerns over government funding for construction.

The discussions are expected to continue after the April 28 Tobago elections. “We agree that post-election, the conversations will continue. Hopefully, Sandals will agree to return to the table in Tobago,” Augustine said.

While no formal agreement has been made, Augustine confirmed Tobago’s message to Sandals: “Come back to Tobago. Let’s have a conversation. Let’s look at what is possible.”

https://www.cnc3.co.tt/tt-sandals-to-re ... m-scratch/

[bluefete]

The split on Hilton is 70% Trinidad, 30% Hilton. You don't think that GORTT hasn't made back the spend on Hilton earning 70cents on the dollar?

Actually and allegedly:

Fees:
The government receives rent and licensing fees from the hotel, including 76% of the "Annual Gross Operating Profit" as defined in the lease agreement (Afra Raymond).

The issue is "how much" money is the government getting? That is a state secret.

https://afraraymond.net/2018/02/14/prop ... #more-8529

In 2016 I developed a research program into the State-owned hotels in our country and have been pursuing that with the help of my colleagues at Disclosure Today. We have been trying to get copies of the Management Agreements and details of the performance of those hotels.

Our questions have been avoided with a type of brazenness which would be funny, if nearly $2.0 Billion in Public Money were not involved.

But Trinidad Hilton is unusual in that we actually can access the Management Agreement between Hilton International and e TecK, since it is a registered lease with the Registrar General’s Department – DE 200601713101. That unusual aspect itself discloses a series of deeper issues within this fractured and important part of the State’s portfolio –

The Agreements – If e TecK registered the Trinidad Hilton Agreement why was there the need to suppress the agreement for the 198-room Magdalena Grand? The Trinidad Hilton agreement contains no confidentiality clause, so why then have we agreed to those at the other hotels? How does that secrecy serve the Public Interest?
Performance – even though the Trinidad Hilton Management Agreement is available, the same secrecy on its performance applies as at the other State-owned hotels. If there is no confidentiality clause, what is the secret about that hotel’s performance?
The Joint Select Committee
In 2016, the Parliament’s JSC examined the operations of e TecK with particular reference to its accounts and finances. Its Report was published in September 2016 and makes intriguing reading, given the stakes here. According to the President of e TecK, Robert Salandy, in his testimony to the Joint Select Committee on 6th April 2016, the project costs have escalated from an original estimate of $484M to a current figure of $634M. A total of $508M had been spent and it was reported that “…Salandy could not give a time-frame in which the renovations at the Hilton hotel would be completed…”. I was particularly struck by Salandy’s claims that he was unaware of whether any feasibility test or cash flow analysis was engaged before starting the $600M+ long-term project. When pressed, he relied on the Cabinet’s approval as justification. This all places the State’s investment in this type of opaque PPP into question.

e TecK’s position is complicated. On the one hand, they are withholding the Magdalena agreement on grounds that to disclose those details would violate and threaten the commercial interests of the operator. On the other hand, they are unable to explain why the disclosure of the management agreement in the case of Trinidad Hilton was not similarly damaging. The Trinidad Hilton agreement contains no confidentiality clause, yet e TecK continues to suppress its performance details on similar grounds. Of course, all of this sits awkwardly alongside the Minister’s claims as to Return on Investment for the Public Money spent and so on. I tell you.

The Information Age is global and it is growing, except when it comes to the secret, public projects in the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago. It may seem bizarre to juxtapose ‘secret‘ and ‘public‘ like that, but Ole Mas is our National Culture.

As part of our research we wrote to the Ministry of Finance & The Economy and received a prompt reply that there has never been a Financial Audit or Management Review of those hotel PPPs. That Ministry is pushing PPP as a development approach at this time in our country.

One thing we know for sure is that those foreign hotel operators would not have persisted if those arrangements were not profitable. As we now know, Hilton International was able to exit the Tobago project when the arrangement became unfavourable and still be paid $138M for its shares in Vanguard Holdings, which owned that property. So the real question here is just what returns do we, the public, get from these huge and expensive projects. The silence, obfuscation and sheer spin all fed my scepticism on the Tobago Sandals proposals. If the State is unwilling or unable to disclose the agreements and performance of those hotels, it seems that there is an inability to make the case for yet another one. Hence the Ole Mas continues.


So I went back into the 1960's and looked at Hilton's past annual reports.

Hilton 1959 Report:
The Trinidad, Athens and Amsterdam Hiltons are under construction and work has just started on The Rotterdam Hilton

https://digitalcollections.lib.uh.edu/c ... ?locale=en

Hilton 1960 Annual report has this:

Also under construction are hotels in Trinidad, Athens, Amsterdam, Rotterdam,Teheran and a140-room addition at Istanbul. The“upside
down” Trinidad Hilton will open late this year. This hotel is built down the slope of Belmont
Hill and guests will enter from the top. It overlooks Port-of-Spain and th eocean.

https://digitalcollections.lib.uh.edu/c ... ?locale=en

Hilton report 1961 has this:

The schedule for 1962 is ; the 250-room Acapulco Hilton in Acapulco, Mexico; the 250-room Trinidad Hilton in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, West Indies;

Due to the success of the Inter­national system, we continuously receive inquiries from for­eign governments and private groups concerning possible hotels in other cities around the world. Our basic Interna­tional policy is to operate hotels which are built and fur­nished by others and to pay the owners rent based on a percentage of the operating profit. (pg.18)

https://digitalcollections.lib.uh.edu/c ... ?locale=en


1962 Report:

Properties in Amster­dam ,Acapulco and Trinidad, opened during 1962, provided $4,319,721 more revenues in 1963 than in the preceding year. (pg.7)

https://digitalcollections.lib.uh.edu/c ... ?locale=en


https://newsday.co.tt/2019/06/13/hilton ... dad-hotel/
A good investment

The property had originally been the Government House, a former residence for governors and chief justices, which had fallen into disrepair and obscurity, but rescued and restored to its current glory by Hilton, who immediately saw potential in its location.

Hilton Trinidad, then has proved to be a good investment, not just for the hotel, but also from the government.

The land and the building are owned by the state (through eTeck), but managed and operated by the Hilton group.

The state, therefore has over the years received rent and licensing fees from the hotel.

It also means that upgrades have to be paid for by the state, as in the case of the recent $7 million upgrade to the pool deck area. Maumaire is careful though, to emphasise that it’s an understanding of what’s best for both the hotel and the state.

And Hilton does believe it’s been a good investment for them. “We would not be here if it wasn’t. It’s not like a huge money maker but at the same time, we can’t complain either. It’s a strategic location.

[Gladiator]

If you ever have to deal with Sandals on a financial issue they tell you outrightly that ALL financial dealings go through their California based company. Absolutely no USD passes through the resort itself or the country it resides in. The only advantage Tobago gets is increased tourism (the novelty usually lasts 2 years) and the service type employment that pays typically minimum wage. Caribbean airlines will see increased traffic and locals may get a day pass that they can pay for and knowing Trinis they will spoil that quickly.

It is another parasitic corporate entity that will suck more resources than they contribute to the economy. As I said before the Sandals brand is in deep trouble. The siblings are fighting Adam since Butch died. They want to break up the chain and split up the resorts. In the meantime the resorts are going to trash and the quality is significantly being affected.

[Gladiator]

Is this the situation we really want to get involved with.... its almost as risky as doing business with Maduro.

Sandals Group delays $6b in payouts to ‘Butch’ beneficiaries
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Published:Sunday | May 12, 2024 | 12:11 AM

Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart
Contributed
Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart
More trouble is brewing involving the will of late business mogul Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart, after the Sandals hotel group delayed a final cash payment of more than $6 billion to a group of mostly elderly beneficiaries.


They are reportedly contemplating a series of actions, including a lawsuit, to force Sandals to provide a specific reason for pushing back the payments due last month, by a further 12 months.

King’s Counsel Michael Hylton, who represents some of the nine beneficiaries, has declined to speak on the development.

“A public comment at this time would be premature,” he told The Sunday Gleaner. He is from the firm Hylton Powell.

The Levy Cheeks law firm is also representing some of the beneficiaries.

“Unfortunately, I am not in a position to comment,” attorney Bruce Levy, of Levy Cheeks said in response to Sunday Gleaner queries yesterday.

Butch, the founder of Sandals Resorts International (SRI) and the ATL Group, died in January 2021.

Adam Stewart, one of his sons and long-considered heir, took over as executive chairman of the hotel group, one of the largest private employers and foreign exchange earners in Jamaica.

However, a bitter dispute has emerged in the Stewart family over the handling of the billionaire’s estate and Adam’s approach to ensuring that his father’s wishes are implemented.

Butch left mainly two sets of instructions for his assets.

One set related to how two Bahamian trusts, which control most of his wealth and the hotel business, are to be handled. One disputed wish in the trusts would strip Adam of significant say in the Sandals hotel chain and give his United States-based family, as a unit, the largest stake in the company.


That has been challenged by most of the Jamaica-based family, including Adam.

A brother, Robert ‘Bobby’ Stewart, from the Jamaican family, supports a claim in Bahamian courts by Butch’s common-law widow, Cheryl Hammersmith-Stewart, who leads the case for the American family.

Butch’s will, dated May 15, 2020, contains the other set of instructions that relate to assets held in Jamaica.

US$95 million be paid out
He instructed that a total of US$95 million be paid out in cash to nine individuals, mostly relatives and close associates of many decades. His sister Patricia Hawryluk, who is reportedly ailing, is among the beneficiaries.

Two of the beneficiaries, Butch’s first wife Erica Hamilton, and Roger Seivwright, have since died.

The allocations per person range from US$2.5 million to US$20 million.

Using the Bank of Jamaica’s annual weighted selling average for 2020, when the will was signed, of J$143.27 for US$1, the total figure of US$95 million amounts to approximately J$13.7 billion.


About 50 per cent of the amount has already been paid out.

In section eight of the will, Butch said if there were problems with making the payments out of a trust, the funds should be taken from his estate and, if that becomes necessary, payment “shall be charged on the Sandals and Beaches Group”. He said his trustees may even borrow money “in the name of Sandals & Beaches Group alone or jointly with any of its subsidiaries and may cause such borrowing to be secured” using the assets of the group or subsidiaries.

Most of the Butch’s assets are not in his name and there was reportedly limited cash in the Jamaican estate.

To avoid potential legal pressure from the beneficiaries in demanding an examination of the wider estate’s finances, Sandals proposed the establishment of a foundation to manage payments, The Sunday Gleaner understands.

The payment vehicle was established as ‘The Gordon A.C. Stewart Estate Legatee Foundation’. It struck a funding agreement with the Sandals Resorts International 2000 Inc, which would provide money to the foundation for it to make payments to the beneficiaries.

Some of the money was paid with the balance due by April 2024, based on a promissory note issued to the beneficiaries.

However, Sandals informed the foundation in a letter dated April 10, 2024 that it was exercising its right to trigger the delay clause in the agreement for the payment of the second instalment to the foundation “until such time as the negative impact of the delay trigger is no longer a material threat to SRI 2000, but in no event later than April 24, 2025”.

“The board of directors of SRI2000 has determined that one or more delay triggers currently exist,” SRI said through its attorneys from the American law firm Latham & Watkins, LLP.

The specific issue that forced the action was not disclosed in the letter obtained by The Sunday Gleaner.

“These delay triggers consist of matters outside of SRI 2000’s control which have resulted in liability and material disruption to SRI 2000 and which make payment of the second instalment materially onerous to SRI 2000,” the lawyers wrote.

The foundation advised the beneficiaries, also referred to as the pecuniaries, on April 17.

The beneficiaries made enquiries on the issue that prompted the delay to WND Limited, which is listed on one of the documents as the sole member of the foundation’s council.

In a response to the beneficiaries on May 4, Ivan Hooper, who is listed as a director, said the foundation had no further information “nor will we be provided with any further feedback by SRI2000”.

“We were advised that it is the primary responsibility of management and the board of SRI2000 to ensure the economic health of the company and it is at its discretion to make this decision. That SRI2000 does not need to provide further details, nor do they have any responsibility to the pecuniaries to do so. This has been confirmed by SRI2000 counsel,” said Hooper, who is also a director of the Winterbotham Group, a Bahamas-based trust and banking company.

Questions emailed to the Sandals have not been answered.

The beneficiaries are discussing what further actions to take, including whether to file a lawsuit.

Among the considerations for legal action is where to file it – in Jamaica or The Bahamas; in addition to the age of the beneficiaries and the likely long time it could take to settle the issue in court, The Sunday Gleaner understands.

[Dizzy28]

Tourism in Trinidad and Tobago is a real chicken and egg situation.
The product is not good and needs developing. Until the product gets better the flights and subsequent passengers not gonna come. The Airport was a first step in product development.
To get investments in with a substandard product will be difficult and may require Govnt intervention. There is no reason it cannot be done to jump start something.

[Gladiator]

Tourism in Trinidad and Tobago is a real chicken and egg situation.
The product is not good and needs developing. Until the product gets better the flights and subsequent passengers not gonna come. The Airport was a first step in product development.
To get investments in with a substandard product will be difficult and may require Govnt intervention. There is no reason it cannot be done to jump start something.

The airport ... lol you sounding like Rowley there (jk jk). Grenada and St Lucia both have Sandals in addition to several top tier resorts and very very basic airports yet receive tons of tourists every year, way more in 1 year than Tobago sees in 10.

A major factor is safety, tourists not going to choose a country in the top 5 or top 10 murder ridden countries to go to on vacation.

A major factor that the "whites" take into consideration when vacation planning is the customer service.... are we going to just change the culture overnight? or would we have a Sandals with some twist up pan people working in it... LOL

[pugboy]

Curacao too
proves very well that this “build big airport” idea is all
bobol

Tourism in Trinidad and Tobago is a real chicken and egg situation.
The product is not good and needs developing. Until the product gets better the flights and subsequent passengers not gonna come. The Airport was a first step in product development.
To get investments in with a substandard product will be difficult and may require Govnt intervention. There is no reason it cannot be done to jump start something.

The airport ... lol you sounding like Rowley there (jk jk). Grenada and St Lucia both have Sandals in addition to several top tier resorts and very very basic airports yet receive tons of tourists every year, way more in 1 year than Tobago sees in 10.

A major factor is safety, tourists not going to choose a country in the top 5 or top 10 murder ridden countries to go to on vacation.

A major factor that the "whites" take into consideration when vacation planning is the customer service.... are we going to just change the culture overnight? or would we have a Sandals with some twist up pan people working in it... LOL

[Dizzy28]

Tourism in Trinidad and Tobago is a real chicken and egg situation.
The product is not good and needs developing. Until the product gets better the flights and subsequent passengers not gonna come. The Airport was a first step in product development.
To get investments in with a substandard product will be difficult and may require Govnt intervention. There is no reason it cannot be done to jump start something.

The airport ... lol you sounding like Rowley there (jk jk). Grenada and St Lucia both have Sandals in addition to several top tier resorts and very very basic airports yet receive tons of tourists every year, way more in 1 year than Tobago sees in 10.

A major factor is safety, tourists not going to choose a country in the top 5 or top 10 murder ridden countries to go to on vacation.

A major factor that the "whites" take into consideration when vacation planning is the customer service.... are we going to just change the culture overnight? or would we have a Sandals with some twist up pan people working in it... LOL

We starting from the bottom in the Caribbean. We need to be better than the competition in all aspects to even enter the discussions.

I am not pro what the airport is now but a better airport was a pre-req for some airlines to even consider Tobago.
I haven't been to St Lucia since 2012 and even then it was only the one outside Castries I flew into but I doubt Hewanorra is basic and thats where the tourists enter the country. I last been to Grenada in 2019 and their airport had a relatively new wing then and was far from basic and much better than the current ANR.

But those other things you mentioned are also important. Customer Service Crime etc are all part of the value proposition.

[Gladiator]

Tourism in Trinidad and Tobago is a real chicken and egg situation.
The product is not good and needs developing. Until the product gets better the flights and subsequent passengers not gonna come. The Airport was a first step in product development.
To get investments in with a substandard product will be difficult and may require Govnt intervention. There is no reason it cannot be done to jump start something.

The airport ... lol you sounding like Rowley there (jk jk). Grenada and St Lucia both have Sandals in addition to several top tier resorts and very very basic airports yet receive tons of tourists every year, way more in 1 year than Tobago sees in 10.

A major factor is safety, tourists not going to choose a country in the top 5 or top 10 murder ridden countries to go to on vacation.

A major factor that the "whites" take into consideration when vacation planning is the customer service.... are we going to just change the culture overnight? or would we have a Sandals with some twist up pan people working in it... LOL

We starting from the bottom in the Caribbean. We need to be better than the competition in all aspects to even enter the discussions.

I am not pro what the airport is now but a better airport was a pre-req for some airlines to even consider Tobago.
I haven't been to St Lucia since 2012 and even then it was only the one outside Castries I flew into but I doubt Hewanorra is basic and thats where the tourists enter the country. I last been to Grenada in 2019 and their airport had a relatively new wing then and was far from basic and much better than the current ANR.

But those other things you mentioned are also important. Customer Service Crime etc are all part of the value proposition.

I hear your point of view and it has merit...

Hewanorra is actually a little less modern than our old piarco airport (not the current one eh the old old one) and Grenada is the same as St. Lucia George F.L. Charles, the usual cow shed design. I have been to those 2 countries about 14 times in the past 7 years. As a tourist the airport is the least of my concern, actually I prefer the small airport cause is quick in and quick out... lol

Mind you St Lucia eliminated their paper forms and have a digital immigration process with QR code scanner and thing eh... something we could have never got done but can build a billion dollar airport. ... sorry 2 billion dollar airports

[Dizzy28]

Tourism in Trinidad and Tobago is a real chicken and egg situation.
The product is not good and needs developing. Until the product gets better the flights and subsequent passengers not gonna come. The Airport was a first step in product development.
To get investments in with a substandard product will be difficult and may require Govnt intervention. There is no reason it cannot be done to jump start something.

The airport ... lol you sounding like Rowley there (jk jk). Grenada and St Lucia both have Sandals in addition to several top tier resorts and very very basic airports yet receive tons of tourists every year, way more in 1 year than Tobago sees in 10.

A major factor is safety, tourists not going to choose a country in the top 5 or top 10 murder ridden countries to go to on vacation.

A major factor that the "whites" take into consideration when vacation planning is the customer service.... are we going to just change the culture overnight? or would we have a Sandals with some twist up pan people working in it... LOL

We starting from the bottom in the Caribbean. We need to be better than the competition in all aspects to even enter the discussions.

I am not pro what the airport is now but a better airport was a pre-req for some airlines to even consider Tobago.
I haven't been to St Lucia since 2012 and even then it was only the one outside Castries I flew into but I doubt Hewanorra is basic and thats where the tourists enter the country. I last been to Grenada in 2019 and their airport had a relatively new wing then and was far from basic and much better than the current ANR.

But those other things you mentioned are also important. Customer Service Crime etc are all part of the value proposition.

I hear your point of view and it has merit...

Hewanorra is actually a little less modern than our old piarco airport (not the current one eh the old old one) and Grenada is the same as St. Lucia George F.L. Charles, the usual cow shed design. I have been to those 2 countries about 14 times in the past 7 years. As a tourist the airport is the least of my concern, actually I prefer the small airport cause is quick in and quick out... lol

Mind you St Lucia eliminated their paper forms and have a digital immigration process with QR code scanner and thing eh... something we could have never got done but can build a billion dollar airport. ... sorry 2 billion dollar airports

Everybody eliminated the paper forms seemingly
Saw this yesterday. This is what I mean by improving the product.

[Redress10]

Which Tobagonian waking up 3 in the morning to make tambran ball and toolum to go on the beach and try to sell to a tourist?

In order for Tobago tourism to improve and develop you need to cut Tobago off from the oil and gas funds

[pugboy]

ahhmmm it have no such things selling in sandals

it’s strictly food catered for the tourists tastes
eg sushi, uk fish chips, american style, italian and french
plenty bars with cocktail type drinks

Which Tobagonian waking up 3 in the morning to make tambran ball and toolum to go on the beach and try to sell to a tourist?

In order for Tobago tourism to improve and develop you need to cut Tobago off from the oil and gas funds

[bluefete]

ahhmmm it have no such things selling in sandals

it’s strictly food catered for the tourists tastes
eg sushi, uk fish chips, american style, italian and french
plenty bars with cocktail type drinks

Which Tobagonian waking up 3 in the morning to make tambran ball and toolum to go on the beach and try to sell to a tourist?

In order for Tobago tourism to improve and develop you need to cut Tobago off from the oil and gas funds

Seriously, pugboy?

Then is only one set of mamaguy for Tobagonians?

So all the talk about buying local fruits and veggies is just talk?

[Redress10]

ahhmmm it have no such things selling in sandals

it’s strictly food catered for the tourists tastes
eg sushi, uk fish chips, american style, italian and french
plenty bars with cocktail type drinks

Which Tobagonian waking up 3 in the morning to make tambran ball and toolum to go on the beach and try to sell to a tourist?

In order for Tobago tourism to improve and develop you need to cut Tobago off from the oil and gas funds

Never said anything about selling in Sandals.