Tobago to target more direct flights with new $1bn airport terminal
Gary NoakesTobago is ready to up its profile as a destination with the opening of a new $1 billion airport terminal and its first new hotels in nearly a decade.
A new terminal building at ANR Robinson International airport will enable larger aircraft to be handled due to the building’s bigger passenger capacity, coupled with increased aircraft parking.
Tobago’s chief secretary Farley Chavez Augustine said accompanying infrastructure improvements, including new roads, meant new beach areas would be available for visitors.
The island is hoping to seal deals with new markets and carriers at WTM London, with a view to diversifying from its core UK and Scandinavian markets.
"Potentially we can accommodate other source markets," said Augustine. "We’re looking at the Middle East, we have a service agreement with Qatar. The country as a whole is looking at Emirates. Currently, to get here from the Middle East, you have to go through Venezuela.”
Talks are also under way with regional carriers to instigate direct flights, avoiding the need to go through Trinidad’s Piarco airport. Tobago hopes to have links in place by early 2025. Currently, the only direct regional flights are from Barbados and Saint Lucia.
Tobago will also see an increase in its accommodation stock following the opening of the new airport. “We have not had any new hotels in Tobago for eight or more years,” said the island’s tourism secretary Tashia Burris. Work on a new Marriott is due to begin in mid-2025 at Rocky Point, which will add 200 rooms.
Development is aimed at bringing upscale tourism to the island. Burris said the target was to build a portfolio of five- and six-star properties suited to extended families with facilities like private chefs. “We are looking at investment that attracts these passengers,” she said.
Efforts will also be made to attract the premium dive market. “Tobago is one of the most scenic areas with some of the largest brain corals,” Burris said.
Tobago has also just staged its third Carnival, hoping to emulate the success of its sister island.
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