The Travel Foundation

The Travel Foundation began initiating a range of sustainable tourism initiatives in Tobago in 2004. Tobago is a popular destination for UK package holidaymakers, who account for 63% of all visitors to the island.

The programme began with three short-term activities to get our work off to a quick start. These included staff and customer education on reef and turtle protection. We also funded research to identify longer-term opportunities to improve sustainability within Tobago.

The Issue

As in many similar holiday destinations, tourism development has yet to offer maximum benefit to local communities.

As well as this, growing numbers of visitors are beginning to impact the fragile environment, with damage to reefs, forests, endangered turtles and seafood stocks from increased demand.

What Is The Programme?

Together with the government of Trinidad & Tobago, the tourism industry and local conservation groups, The Travel Foundation has developed a programme of activities to address these issues and make the impact of tourism from the UK as positive as it can be. With support from Virgin Holidays, we launched three ‘quick win’ projects to get early results in Tobago. In addition to these, we conducted research to highlight longer-term opportunities.

‘Quick Wins’

Customer education: how holidaymakers can make the most of their visit to Tobago.

A video and leaflet shown in the arrivals hall at the airport and on board Excel Airways flights to highlight top sustainability tips. Click on the leaflet to view it.

Hotel staff, guide & customer education: on the protection of nesting turtles, with a series of training sessions for industry staff, leaflets for staff and visitors and organised turtle watching tours. SOS Tobago, our partner that provided the training, has reported an overall 20% increase in the number of hatchlings coming up on the beaches of certain hotels since the start of the training – a probable indication that fewer turtles are being harassed and are therefore staying to lay their eggs.

Reef demarcation buoys: Precious reefs at Crown Point, Charlotteville and Mt. Irvine are now protected from boat anchors by Reef Demarcation Buoys. Project partners, The Buccoo Reef Trust, teamed up with the Tobago House of Assembly, Department of Marine Resources and Fisheries to deploy the buoys with great gratitude from the locals in these areas. The buoys worked so well that in 2006 several more were installed, which were paid for locally.

All of these activites were set up in the first six months of the project.

“The arrival of The Travel Foundation in Tobago signals the beginning of a new era of responsibility and care for how tourism is managed on the island. Only by working together can we really make a difference.” Tour operator

“The reef demarcation buoys have worked extremely well…. In particular during periods of increased sailing activity, such as Sailing Week and the Regatta…I would estimate that the buoys have reduced by at least 60% the damage done to the reefs “ - Dr. Owen Day, Director, Buccoo Reef Trust

“ Since the training we have had guests come forward on several occasions to tell us how much they enjoyed the turtle watching and appreciated our initiative in protecting the turtles…I actually think we’ve had more turtles come up to nest this season than last season because of it… - Wayne, Guest Relations, Rex Turtle Beach

“I really enjoy eating local food and seeing local crafts in the hotel. We love Tobagonian culture and hope that The Travel Foundation can make these things more accessible for visitors like us.” Holidaymaker from London

Longer-term activities

Agro-tourism links

Tobago, once a thriving agricultural economy, is no longer self-sufficient in food. Much of the produce needed by the tourism industry is supplied by producers and importers based in Trinidad, the wider Caribbean & the USA. Through our research, we have been able to identify a real opportunity to improve the local economy via agriculture. Helping local farmers supply fresh produce at the quantity, quality and price demanded by hotels. There is currently more demand for fresh produce than local farmers can supply. We are working with the hotels in Tobago and farmers on the ‘Adopt a Farmer’ Project. This aims to forge greater links between the Agricultural and Tourism sectors and to decrease the dependency on imported produce. To date, twenty farmers a

nd their families have been involved in supplying the hotels with over TT$260,000 (£26,000) worth of local produce. Assisted by The Foundation to sell directly to the hotels, farmers earn 30%-100% more for their produce which has allowed them to increase the size of their farms and the range of crops grown.

In February 2006 the Travel Foundation Tobago took the Adopt a Farmer programme to a higher level with the installation of two greenhouses on the farmer’s holdings. Sponsored by BHP Billiton, the greenhouses are part of a project to evaluate the use of greenhouses in growing certain crops for sale to hotels. The evaluation has so far proven that the lettuce and tomato crops grown under greenhouse conditions are significantly larger and can be harvested earlier than the same crops grown in the open.

School Gardens Project

Counterpart to the Adopt a Farmer programme is the Organic ‘School Gardens Project', in which three primary schools curre

ntly grow and harvest their own organic herbs for sale to several of the major hotels. Principal of the Plymouth Primary school, Cynthia Grant, has praised this project for the enthusiasm it has generated among her young pupils, and income from this project will go towards establishing a school library. The goal of the Travel Foundation Tobago by the end of 2007 is to have 10 schools fully operational under the programme and supplying herbs.

Adding value

We are now looking at projects that generate ‘value added’ products.

Practical Skills in Beekeeping

Our Practical skills in beekeeping program was launched in February 2007. Under this project a group of 20 high school students are being trained in the knowledge and skills to become self-employed wage earners by establishing small apiaries. They will produce, extract and market high quality honey and other value added products for the tourist market.

Micro-loans

At the beginning of 2006, we introduced an interest-free micro-credit scheme to facilitate larger projects getting off the ground. Two new agriculture-based projects are in line for this type of funding: a chocolate making factory and a cassava-processing factory. Both projects are considered agro-tourism projects as tourists will be able to visit the respective factories to view the entire manufacturing process from the raw material to the finished item, which they may purchase.

Embroidery

In June 07 we initiated our first project in the art and craft sector – a creative machine embroidery course aimed at young mothers and unemployed youth, with the objective of supplying hotels and tourists with high-quality furnishings and gifts – from table settings to soft toys!

We are funding the 10 high-tech sewing machines needed to start the course and the project is co-funded by the Tobago Department of Community Development and Culture, which will train the students. At the end of the course, the machines will either be used on a continuing basis for other creative sewing courses, or be sold to the individual participants under an interest free loan agreement, so that they can start their own businesses. As part of the training programme, the Business Development Unit of the Tobago House of Assembly will inform participants how they can go about starting their own businesses.

Historical Cafe

The First Historical Café is the first project to be undertaken by the Travel Foundation Tobago under the arrangement of an interest free loan. Until late 2005 the roadside café was a popular attraction for tourists and locals alike, due to its rustic appearance, location and its artistic and colorful interior which boasted the entire history of Tobago hand-written on the walls. Closed for almost a year after the Hurricane of 2005, the café owner did not have the resources needed to repair and re-open the café, until he found out about our interest-free loan initiative. After accessing this facility, the café owner has been able to carry out the repairs needed and reopened the café in early 2007. As part of the agreement for the interest-free loan, the café owner will also carry craft and other items produced from some of our other projects, including honey, soft toys, and chocolate. The repaid funds will then become ‘seed’ money for new projects.

Benefits

Protecting natural assets for your customers’ enjoyment - now and in to the future.
Enhancing the quality of the product and delivering an enriched holiday experience to your customers.
Providing practical information for your customers – they can feel good about doing ‘their bit’ to help and get more out of their holiday experience.
Increased opportunities for local businesses and a better contribution to the local economy.

The programme will have a much wider benefit outside of Tobago because of the way The Travel Foundation works. We are already telling others in the Caribbean about the successes of the projects and developing plans to help others replicate this work.