Trinidad and Tobago is shuttering the tourism Development Authority as it plans to shift oversight to two separate agencies.
Tourism Minister Shamfa Cudjoe said the TDA will be dissolved and replaced by two regulatory authorities, one overseeing tourism standards for Trinidad and one for Tobago.
"We are at the state where we are engaging countries that have functioning regulatory authorities, such as the Bahamas and Barbados, to assist us as we establish the new structure," Cudjoe said.
"Right now the standards program in Trinidad and Tobago is voluntary and if we ought to compete with the rest of the region we have to ensure that we meet the necessary standards."
The two agencies will each set mandatory standards and monitoring.
The minister said the changes will not affect the Trinidad and Tobago destination brand but each agency would focus on each of their strengths.
For example ‘there are specific markets that are interested in Tobago,’ such as Europe and Scandanavia, she said.
"We have been in consultation and conversation with members from Caribbean destinations the Bahamas, Barbados and the Caribbean Tourism Organisation for assistance in doing the consultations to establish this new regulatory authority, so we look forward to these new structures and these new arrangements as we advance the development of tourism and focus more on Tobago tourism development."
