At World Travel Market, the Tobago House Assembly has announced plans for a new regional flight, operated by Thomas Cook’s German sister company, Condor, from Manchester to the Caribbean island of Tobago.
At a press conference on the sidelines of the UK trade show, Tracey Davidson-Celestine, secretary for transport and tourism for the Tobago House Assembly, said: ‘The UK market is a very important one for us. Within the next fiscal year, we will be spending more than $4 million in the UK market, with a view to ensuring that our destination is well known because it’s a very important market for us.
‘I am pleased to announce that we will be starting new airlift with Condor out of Manchester, flying directly to Tobago, starting in winter 2014.’
The new Thomas Cook service will be open for bookings from next month with the first flights starting in winter 2014. With the new service, the number of direct services from the UK to Tobago will increase to four per week (five in winter). Direct flights are already in place from British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, and Monarch, in addition to services through Trinidadian capital, Port of Spain.
Ms. Davidson-Celestine added: ‘It was really the diverse nature of the island that caused us to focus on niche strategies. We do not have the large hotels to focus on mass tourism, so we have to find a way to sell what we have, and to increase demand for the destination.
‘We will be targeting several tour operators to get them to come to Tobago and experience for themselves what Tobago has to offer.’
