The tourism sec­tors in both Trinidad and To­ba­go are one step clos­er to a safe re­open­ing fol­low­ing the re­cent ac­cred­i­ta­tion of the Pi­ar­co and Crown Point In­ter­na­tion­al Air­ports in the Air­port Health Ac­cred­i­ta­tion (AHA) pro­gramme, by the Air­ports Coun­cil In­ter­na­tion­al (ACI). 

Both air­ports re­ceived the ac­cred­i­ta­tion in recog­ni­tion of the health and safe­ty mea­sures im­ple­ment­ed for the pro­tec­tion of trav­ellers, em­ploy­ees and users of the air­port from the spread of Covid-19.

A state­ment is­sued by the Min­istry of Tourism, Cul­ture and the Arts notes that such in­ter­na­tion­al ac­cred­i­ta­tion is in line with the over­all prepa­ra­tions by the Min­istry—and its agency, Tourism Trinidad Lim­it­ed—to en­sure that all vis­i­tor touch points are con­sid­ered, from the time a vis­i­tor boards a plane to when he lands, leaves the air­port, stays at a ho­tel, vis­its a restau­rant or goes on a tour.

Sen­a­tor Ran­dall Mitchell, Min­is­ter of Tourism, Cul­ture and the Arts, said he is pleased that both air­ports achieved such crit­i­cal ac­cred­i­ta­tion.

“The Min­istry has com­piled health pro­to­cols and guide­lines with in­puts from the Min­istry of Health, To­ba­go Tourism Agency Lim­it­ed, Air­ports Au­thor­i­ty of Trinidad and To­ba­go, Port Au­thor­i­ty of Trinidad and To­ba­go and Caribbean Pub­lic Health Agency (CARPHA),” Min­is­ter Mitchell ex­plains, “so that var­i­ous stake­hold­ers can en­ter­tain vis­i­tors safe­ly and with all pro­to­cols in place.” 

Min­is­ter Mitchell added: “Ap­prox­i­mate­ly 150 stake­hold­ers were trained by CARPHA, fa­cil­i­tat­ed through Tourism Trinidad Lim­it­ed on Oc­to­ber 14th. They were giv­en guid­ance on how to ob­tain their Health As­sur­ance Stamp for Health­i­er Safer Tourism.”

The Health As­sur­ance Stamp will be is­sued to stake­hold­ers through­out the Caribbean. It ac­cred­its tourism op­er­a­tors through the wider Tourism and Health In­for­ma­tion Sys­tem.  The stamp is a means of ver­i­fy­ing that tourism en­ti­ties and des­ti­na­tions are im­ple­ment­ing and ad­her­ing to COVID-19 health mon­i­tor­ing and safe­ty mea­sures.

The tourism Min­is­ter al­so gives as­sur­ances that every­thing is be­ing done to en­sure a safe re­open­ing of the tourism sec­tors on both is­lands.

“All mea­sures are be­ing put in place to en­sure that stake­hold­ers are equipped with the nec­es­sary tools to wel­come vis­i­tors to des­ti­na­tion Trinidad and To­ba­go once again,” he said.  “2020 has been a dif­fi­cult year for tourism, but we are com­mit­ted to restart­ing the sec­tor and re­turn­ing vis­i­tor ar­rivals to the growth path ex­pe­ri­enced in Jan­u­ary and Feb­ru­ary 2020.”