THE EDITOR: On September 27, we at the Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation (CTTRC) commemorated World Tourism Day. The UN World Tourism Organization (WTO) declared this year's theme as 'Rethinking Tourism.' It is a call to action for us to reimagine our local tourism industry as a local economic driver as we emerge from the economic shock of the covid19 pandemic, and in light of the challenges faced due to the continued decline of our oil and gas sector.

Reimagining our tourism industry requires innovation, education, creativity and sustainability, together with the strengthening of stakeholder partnerships, strategic planning and investment. This will ensure that we build a robust tourism value chain capable of coping and being adaptive to future internal and external shocks.

It entails preserving and promoting the uniqueness of our local communities, our heritage and culture, and setting new aspirations. It involves inviting and engaging tourists - international, regional and domestic - to immerse themselves in our local activities, festivals and events, and maximising the use of our world class sporting facilities to host sporting events.

Here at CTTRC, we have identified over 30 potential tourist sites, encompassing natural, cultural and built heritage, at various stages of development. We have two main tourism clusters.

The first cluster includes the 85-foot Hanuman murti at the Dattatreya Yoga Centre, the Exchange Village Shiv Mandir, the Indian Caribbean Museum, the Siewdass Sadhu Temple in the Sea, and Carli Bay beach front.

The second cluster is in the Gran Couva/Tortuga/Tabaquite area and includes Carmelita Waterfalls/Chinma Estate, Cocoa Panyol Museum, Our Lady of Montserrat Roman Catholic Church, Knollys Tunnel, Flanagin Town Railway Station, Gran Couva Estate & Eco Lodge, Hacienda Jacana, La Vega Estate, San Antonio Cocoa Estate, San Salvador Estate, Santa Luisa Estate.

We also have world class sporting facilities - the National Cricket Centre, the National Cycling Centre, the National Aquatic Centre and the Brechin Castle Golf Course - making Couva the sporting capital of the Caribbean.

We at CTTRC see our tourism assets, including our warm and welcoming people in our villages and communities, as drivers of local economic development. As such, we have recently met with key ministries/state agencies/departments, private owners/managers of tourism sites to build that strong stakeholder relationship.

We will soon be engaging communities in community-based tourism enterprise training with the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts. We are embarking on a videography series to highlight some of the lesser known sites, and exploring investment options for our Railway Road Heritage Park.

These are just some of the positive initiatives being undertaken as it pertains to tourism development.

HENRY AWONG

chairman

Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo

Regional Corporation

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