Port of Spain Corporation joins tourism drive as cruise ships arrive

Port of Spain (PoS) deputy mayor Abena Hartley has said the city corporation has been allocated a little under $1 million to establish a PoS tourism development fund. These funds will be used for tourism-related projects during the 2024/2025 cruise ship season, which began on October 8.

Hartley said the corporation was excited to play a significant role in the tourism industry.

“As the city, we have a natural product. We have local vendors, local artisans, and the city itself is a vibrant place. Port of Spain is always full of action; we know TT is known for its vibrant people, colour and culture. We’re excited again to be participating in this year’s cruise ship season.”

Hartley was speaking to the media on the Brian Lara Promenade opposite the walkover crossing Wrightson Road, where an arch with the words Welcome to Port of Spain had been erected.

Several vendors were also present in the area, where people coming into the city via the walkover would emerge. Hartley said six selected vendors were doing targeted sales of artisanal goods.

“We want to ensure those wanderers who want to go into town can get a souvenir, can get local art, other artistic pieces and a taste of local chocolate – as we know, we have some of the best cocoa in the world.”

She said the corporation had learned a lot from its participation in the cruise season in 2023.

“We learned to ensure we produce high quality of the goods or the artisans we are offering. It is important to ensure we can have those local artisans and craftspeople who are consistent and can produce a constant flow of the product. We don’t want it to be that on one day we have this, but on another day it’s the same thing – but of a lower quality. So (we are) just ensuring we are consistent in our offerings.”

She said entities the corporation had partnered with included ExporTT and the TT Manufacturers’ Association, which had expressed interest in giving their clients an opportunity for exports.

PoS deputy mayor Abena Hartley – Photo courtesy PoS City Corporation

“Rootsyardd has been a pillar in cultural diversity and showing of that type of local twist in a very classy and international way, so Rootsyardd has been instrumental in helping us develop this project as well.”

Rootsyardd Dub, based in Chaguaramas, is a creative space with an artisan night market, food, art, craft, organic shop and roots music on vinyl.

The Alliance of Rural Communities (ARC) is producing our local chocolates of very high quality.

“Also coconut vendors. We had people doing local fresh juices, which was very popular last year. Doubles, of course, which is important.”

Hartley said the corporation has also produced its first original Port of Spain City memorabilia.

“These are souvenirs for sale in the form of fridge magnets that will depict various buildings and culture. These are the first batch we have produced, and we want to see how the sales of those go. Usually, the tourists come into PoS and get TT memorabilia, but we thought it would be nice for them to have a little keepsake of the city that they could take back.

“We have some of the Magnificent Seven and the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, which is on the eastern end of the promenade, which we know people come to visit and take a walk around.”

Hartley acknowledged the corporation faced some competition from the vendors at the Cruise Ship Terminal Complex.

A release from the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts said an estimated 221 passengers went to the Caroni Bird Sanctuary Tour on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, 212 passengers went on shore excursions and pre-packaged tours to the Maracas Waterfall, Asa Wright Nature Centre, a Paramin 4×4 Adventure, a City and Mt St Benedict Tour and a visit to the House of Angostura.

Hartley said the corporation is planning to venture into the area of tours in the future.

“We want to do some walking tours because we have the Carnival Museum, all the parks and squares, the promenade, the Brian Lara statue, so we will venture soon – once our funding comes in – into giving that type of experience.”

A clear Port of Spain skyline is visible from Lady Young Road with cruise ship Jewel of the Sea anchored at the Cruise Ship Complex, Port of Spain in March. FILE PHOTO – ROGER JACOB

She said the corporation will work with stakeholders to enrich the tourism experience in the city.

“Our heritage is rich, we have a lot to offer and a lot to see and we’re just excited to play our small role. This has to be an all-stakeholder approach, the city cannot do it on its own and we recognise that. We have many spaces that can be used for art, so we will be investing in our local artists to come and paint the walkover, come and do some street art. We will also be looking at our private stakeholders to input into buying advertising space.

“We are liaising closely with one of our major mobile networks to provide WiFi zones and that will be an opportunity for revenue as well, so we really do intend to ensure we’re not just dependent on central government for our revenue, but also we are active in producing and making revenue streams.”

The ministry said Trinidad will welcome over 20 calls from 11 cruise lines, including six first-time visits, during the 2024/2025 cruise season.

The ministry said TT celebrated a highly successful 2023/2024 cruise season that was marked by record-breaking increases in passenger arrivals, tour participation and financial injection into the economy. It said there was a 62 per cent increase in passenger arrivals when compared to the previous year, from 48,243 to 78,051.

Additionally, based on the average visitor spend of an estimated US$56 per person, passengers spent approximately US$4,370,856 during the last season.

 

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