Tourism Minister visits Comfort Inn: Use incentives to expand industry

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Trinidad and Tobago Newsday

Minister of Tourism Randall Mitchell, right, enjoys the views on a tour of Comfort Inn & Suites with general manager Maria Yip-John on Monday morning. –

Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts Randall Mitchell is encouraging tourism-related businesses to use the incentives provided by his ministry to continue enhancing the country’s tourism product.

Mitchell made the statement via a media release on Monday, after a tour of Tobago’s newest hotel, Comfort Inn and Suites, Orange Hill Road, Scarborough, which opened last Thursday.

He was accompanied by Permanent Secretary Simone Thorne-Mora Quinones, chairman of the Towers Hospitality Group Ltd Allan Richards and his managing director Abena Richards.

Comfort Inn and Suites, he said benefited from incentives offered under the Tourism Development Act (TDA) that facilitates both the development of new hotel room stock and improvement of existing room stock.

The act, administered by his ministry, provides for benefits to be granted to the owners and operators of various types of tourism projects that contribute to the growth and expansion of the industry.

Mitchell met with the hotel’s executive management team and was given a tour. He said he was happy with the outcome of the project and was pleased that the incentives accessed through his ministry were instrumental in bringing it to fruition.

“The Comfort Inn brand is well-known globally and will positively impact the international visibility of destination Tobago and certainly improve its marketability. That’s why we readily supported the vision shared by the owners that would ultimately increase the number and quality of the room stock available on the island,” he said.

He also highlighted the benefits of these projects to the economy and the positive impact on employment. During construction , the project employed 200 people and now has a staff of 75.

He encouraged visitors to come to Tobago.

“Now that the hotel has launched, we are encouraging visitors to book their vacations in Tobago, as there is now another high-quality accommodation option in Comfort Inn and Suites.”

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