Since the announcement of Thomas Cook Airlines’ collapse on September 23, the Tobago Tourism Agency Limited (TTAL) has been working assiduously to develop a strategy that will mitigate the impact of the cancelled direct flight, and keep Tobago visible and competitive as an ideal Caribbean destination in the UK travel market.

In a media release issued by the Division of Tourism, Culture and Transportation on the same day of Thomas Cook’s closure, TTAL CEO Mr. Louis Lewis had stated that Tobago’s immediate strategy is to direct customers through its travel partners to the alternative services of British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, which operate year-round weekly services out of London to Tobago.

Following that initial announcement, the Tobago Tourism Agency Limited met with representatives of the Tobago Hotel and Tourism Association (THTA) on Wednesday September 25, 2019 to propose an integrated mitigation strategy, which was endorsed by all present.

At this meeting, Agency officials outlined additional tactics to secure business already booked to the island by offering financial incentives to passengers willing to shift their existing bookings on Thomas Cook to British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.

The Tobago Tourism Agency will also implement additional marketing activities to raise the destination’s visibility in the United Kingdom, in order to recapture business lost from the cancelled Thomas Cook flight, and spur increased winter bookings to Tobago.

To supplement the strategies developed and presented by the TTAL, the membership of the Tobago Hotel and Tourism Association committed to contributing some unspecified value added components to passengers with bookings at various tourism accommodations, the details of which have not been decided on as yet.