Interview with Daila Cherry, Chairman, Tobago Tourism Agency Limited (TTAL)

24 Feb Interview with Daila Cherry, Chairman, Tobago Tourism Agency Limited (TTAL)

In February 2024 Tobago recorded 26,672 visitors to the island, representing the highest figure for any February period from 2017 to the present. How has the rest of 2024 performed and what are your projections for the rest of the year and into 2025?

We are incredibly proud of the steady growth we have seen in visitor arrivals for 2024 which is a testament to the heightened appeal of Tobago as a must-visit Caribbean destination. There has been continued interest in our one-of-a-kind diving and snorkeling experiences, our many thrilling eco adventures across the island’s stunning natural landscapes and, of course, our vibrant and culturally rich festivals, particularly our Tobago Carnival and Blue Food festival, which attracts thousands of visitors to the island each October.

This year, we also extended our renowned Tobago Heritage Festival to a month-long celebration during the summer vacation, a period during which we saw significant increases in visitor arrivals and on island activities. As Tobago’s charm continues to captivate potential and returning visitors, we anticipate continued growth in 2025, especially as we prepare to open a new world class airport facility that will significantly improve accessibility to the destination while enhancing the travel experience. It is expected to open in the first quarter of 2025.

What would you say to the readers of the Miami Herald and across Florida who may be looking for their next Caribbean holiday?

The United States remains one of our key source markets for visitors to the island, with significant increases in US arrivals from 2022 to 2023 and continued growth in 2024. If you are looking for a getaway where the undiscovered waits around every corner, be sure to add Tobago to your travel bucket list with 101 unforgettable activities, or 10 authentic experiences and thrilling adventures that will take you beyond ordinary.

The Tobago Tourism Agency Limited was thrilled to showcase the unique offerings of destination Tobago at the New York Travel & Adventure show in January 2023. Our presence at the event allowed us to reach new audiences, from the island’s renowned diving and eco adventures to its enticing culinary culture, which shines through at weekly harvest celebrations and the annual Blue Food festival and Tobago Carnival in October. Feedback has been positive and there continues to be much interest in what the destination has to offer.

The Tobago Tourism Agency Ltd (TTAL) signed a service agreement with the TT Bureau of Standards (TTBS) aimed at developing standards of excellence in the island’s tourism sector. What areas are you aiming for specifically and how will this help attract international visitors to the island?

As we continue our efforts to enhance the quality of the island’s tourism product, we are grateful for our partnership with the TTBS for the continued roll out of the Trinidad and Tobago Tourism Industry Certification (TTTIC) program in Tobago. TTTIC sends a signal that there is a national standard guiding the operations of tourism service providers designed to ensure the comfort and safety of users. TTTIC will thus engender greater confidence in the destination for the potential visitor and act as a deciding factor in choosing from among the many tourism service providers that are available on the island. In the coming year, we hope to raise greater awareness about TTTIC, both locally and abroad.

Tobago positions itself as an unspoiled paradise in the Caribbean. How do you balance the need for more tourists and recognition of the island’s beauty with maintaining that beauty for future generations?

Tobago is well known for its unspoiled beauty and many natural attractions, including birding, hiking through the Main Ridge forest reserve, tours to our famed Nylon Pool in the Caribbean Sea and diving and snorkeling through our pristine waters and stunning ocean reefs. While we continue our efforts to raise the profile of the destination, TTAL is also committed to fostering sustainable tourism in Tobago through the introduction of globally recognized standards such as the Green Key and Blue Flag certifications that engender a greater sense of environmental consciousness and adherence to responsible practices among our tourism service providers. We have been, for quite a few years now, working with those international organizations to ensure that Tobago is up to standard. Because most of our driving pillars for the tourism industry come from us being an eco-friendly destination and we think that it’s important for us to have those international certifications that would show people that we are serious about our eco destination.

In 2020 the island was awarded the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere designation for Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Development. In 2022, the village of Castara was chosen from among 130 applicants from 57 countries to be part of the UNWTO’s Best Tourism Villages upgrade program, which creates further opportunities for mentorship, capacity building and community driven initiatives, to drive sustainable tourism on the island in the coming year. TTAL will continue to champion such efforts across the destination.

How is the culinary landscape of Tobago?

I want to highlight the culinary excellence that you find in Tobago, the rich flavors, the openness and friendliness of the people. We have a harvest festival which begins in January. Every month there is a community in Tobago that hosts that harvest festival. You can go to that harvest festival and you can walk into anybody’s house and they will treat you to food and drink. They don’t have to know you. They don’t have to have ever seen you before. You just walk in and you are treated like royalty. Of course, you taste the cuisine that we have, because that’s where most of the local food is produced, on fireside and with a lot of laughing and such a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. People feel free and people have done it. You just go to the village on the date in question, which is usually a Sunday and then you get food. You can go to three houses.

Castara is particularly good in terms of having tourists come in and experience the authentic village life, because they come in and they are welcome. They go to the beach in the morning, they pull the nets that the fishermen cast to get their catch fish. When they come in, you have to pull in the nets where the fish are gathered. The tourists go and pull. Then the fishermen give them fish. Tourists enjoy that kind of thing. Then there are bonfire nights on the beach and people will be cooking fish broth, which is also another good dish for Tobago. That’s something amazing to experience, with the authenticity of what we offer. Thursday in Castara is bonfire night and it’s amazing. There is entertainment and different kinds of things.  That’s one of the things you don’t want to miss.

What are the unique orange economy attractions of Tobago?

There is the Buccoo Sunday School. When we say Sunday school, we think of church and Bible classes, but in Tobago, when you say Sunday school, it’s a street party on a Sunday night, where there are people dancing to steel band music every Sunday and DJs playing in the road and you just go. If you miss that, you miss something. Sunday School is alive, it’s amazing and our visitors enjoy it.

In the same area in Buccoo where the Sunday School is, at Easter time we have the Easter goat race. We have goat and crab races every Easter. People are fascinated by the fact that we race goats and crabs. It’s a really fun activity. Tourists enjoy those experiences.

Carnival is in October. This is just the third year of Tobago’s carnival and every year it keeps surpassing expectations. There are so many things to experience with that carnival. You have the Pretty Mas and you have something that we call the Mud Mas where your entire body is painted in mud. The organizers gather mud from wherever they can, they boil it, they purify it so it’s good for your skin. A lot of people feel good after it and afterwards they go to the beach and wash it off.

It’s just a lot of authentic experiences. That’s what’s different about Tobago. We do have the sun, sea and sand. We have that in abundance. We have some of the most beautiful beaches in the Caribbean. But there’s so much more to our tourism product than the sun, sea and sand. There are those authentic Tobago experiences that you can have.

We have bioluminescence tours too which everyone says are amazing. Tobago is everything. It’s almost like a one stop shop, because you have the sun, the sand and the sea, but you also have those authentic experiences that are going to wow you. We don’t realize how lucky we are to live here. This is where people vacation and we live here. I don’t think we have the appreciation for what we have. Tobago is the place to go beyond ordinary.