Premature!
That’s how Secretary of Tourism and Transportation in the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), Tracy Davidson-Celestine, yesterday responded to the online petition which called on the assembly for public consultation, full disclosure and accountability into the proposed development of Sandals Resort in Tobago.
The petition, organised by businessman Dedan Daniel, has garnered over 2,000 signatures and 9,000 views in the last few days.
Once Daniel has obtained 3,000 signatures he will hand over the petition to the THA in a bid to force them to come clean with Tobagonians before making any drastic decisions on the project.
Four days after Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley announced that Tobago was earmarked for a 750-room Sandals Resort, Daniel started the online petition.
Daniel also objected to No Man’s Land, which was rumoured to be the proposed site for the development.
Having heard about the petition, Davidson-Celestine said the move by Daniel was “premature to suggest we have not disclosed any information to the public. At the end of the day, as the Chief Secretary pointed out, all we have had was preliminary discussions with Sandals founder and chairman Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart.”
She said if Sandals, THA and the Government were to hammer out an arrangement for the hotel to be built, the public would be told and would have a say. Davidson-Celestine said the THA has always maintained that Sandals was interested in putting its brand in Tobago.
The four meetings the THA had with Stewart, Davidson-Celestine said, would suggest that talks were still in the early stages.
“There is interest. There is possibility. We want to see it happen. That is all we can say. Some ideas have been put forward in terms of what is possible. But we have not agreed on anything. It’s too early to make any concluding remarks on Sandals.”
If Sandals opens its doors in Tobago, Davidson-Celestine said it would provide Tobago with many opportunities to boost tourism. Davidson-Celestine said she had no idea who was feeding Daniel information about where Sandals would establish its development.
“Again. That is premature.”
She also could not say if and when the deal would be finalised.
“I can’t say because there are quite a number of [matters] must be taken into consideration first. There is no timeframe at this point with Sandals.”
Over the years, Davidson-Celestine said, many hoteliers had expressed an interest in bringing business to Tobago.
However, she said, these discussions never materialised.
“They would have come with plans and financial arrangements to the THA. We have had ten to 15 (investors/hoteliers) and nothing has happened to date. The point I am making here is that we don’t know where this will go. There was an investor here two or three months ago who looked at the Magdalena Hotel and other properties. We have not heard from that investor. They have several companies around the globe.”
If Sandals gets the all clear, Davidson-Celestine said it would the first five-star hotel for Tobago.
“We don’t have any significant high-end hotel here. These are the people who spend their money. The largest number of rooms we have on this island on a single property is Magdalena Hotel. We want five-star and four-star service going forward that we can move out of the range of targeting mainly the lower and middle income passengers to our destination. We need a hotel that has an international reputation that can give credibility to Tobago’s tourism.”
Tobago currently has between 4,500 and 5,000 hotel rooms.
Davidson-Celestine said every international guest who visits Tobago spends an average of US$207 per day for a stay of ten to 12 nights.
Passengers on cruise ships would fork out US$74 daily.