TT’s Prime Minister Promises Big Tourism Push

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said she intends to promote tourism and the unique eco resources of this country on her foreign missions. She made the remark yesterday in delivering the feature address at the official opening of the Valencia visitor centre. The centre, located on the Valencia Main Road, is an initiative of the Turtle Village Trust in collaboration with the Tourism Ministry and private sector.

Phase one of the visitor centre was completed in seven months at a cost of $1.3 million. The centre will offer tour services to visitors and in its second phase will see the construction of other attractions such as a playground, gazebos, board walk, food courts and more.

Persad-Bissessar noted that outside the Caribbean, there are other countries worldwide that are aggressively marketing their countries to attract tourism and this country must do the same through its unique eco resources. Her Government, she said, is pushing tourism in a new direction—to generate sustainable jobs and revenue that this country badly needs.

"The tourism sector is a fiercely competitive industry and to succeed you must have a good product, strong marketing, outstanding service and, most of all, a supportive government," said Persad-Bissessar.

She said in order to achieve prosperity for all growth must be driven in other sectors other that the energy industry. Government, she said, has been aggressively pursuing new tourism source markets such as Brazil, Russia, India and China as well through the appointments of new Overseas Marketing Representatives in several countries.

Cabinet, she noted, recently appointed a new board of the Tourism Development Company. "I have high expectations of this new board as destination Trinidad and Tobago must become known all over the world," she said.