| Crime Forces Citizens Abroad for Carnival |
By Carolyn Kissoon South Bureau - Trinidad & Tobago Express
February 13, 2007
........................................................................................................................................ |
| More than 55,000 people are leaving Trinidad for the long Carnival weekend. |
It is the biggest exodus from mas they have ever experienced, travel agents said yesterday.
Since last weekend, all flights to a number of Caribbean countries, Fort Lauderdale in Miami and to New York were fully booked, they said. |
 |
| "It is practically impossible to book a flight to a number of places now... not until after Carnival," said one agent. |
| The upward trend of flying out for Carnival began "about four years ago" and most agents reported a 40 per cent increase in travellers this year over last year. Official figures show that last year, some 35,000 people took flight from Carnival. |
| Wayne Rodriguez, president of the Travel Agents' Association, said Trinidadians have developed a trend of leaving the country during the Carnival weekend. |
| "Despite the increase in fares to Caribbean islands the flights are all full for the next week. For example, the cost of going to Barbados is now $2,300, an increase of $1,300, and we are all sold out," he said. |
| For businessman, Shane Ali, after playing mas for more than 12 years, he and his wife, Narissa, have decided to steer clear from the celebrations and take a romantic trip to the Bahamas. He said: "I really did not want to leave Trinidad at this time, but the country has changed so much. We can no longer feel safe playing mas. Last year while I was jumping up in a band someone tried to kidnap me. |
| "I was dragged through a crowd of people and walked through a dark alley. The men then saw two police officers and got scared. That was when they told me to run, but promised that they will come back for me." |
| Ali, who operates a furniture store in Central Trinidad, said: "To prevent anything like that from happening again I told my wife that we should just leave for the weekend. We love Carnival, but the crime has just gotten out of control." |
| Another Carnival traveller, Sean Seemungal, of La Romaine, said: "I played mas for the past three years but I have just started a family. I am not into Carnival anymore. I will be travelling with my family. Carnival is not what it used to be." |
| But there is also a jump in the number of people coming to Trinidad for the national festival. |
| Last year there were more than 40,000 Carnival visitors and this year Tourism Ministry officials expect a "10 to 20 per cent increase" over that figure. |
| A ministry official said although a lot of people were leaving the country during the Carnival season, the move would not affect the celebrations. |
| "We have recorded an all time high in people coming into Trinidad during this season. There have always been some people who prefer to travel during that long weekend," the official said. |
| Rodriguez said apart from the increase in demand for flights out of the country, there has also been a reduction in seats on several airlines. |
| "I believe crime has definitely contributed to this trend. I think we have to first admit we have a problem with crime and then seek to find solutions. We are still in a state of denial," he said. |
| A spokesman at Constellation Travel Service Ltd also confirmed the demand for fights to Caribbean islands had increased this year, but they could not supply everyone because the hotels in some of the islands were full because of people coming in for the ICC World Cup. The official said some people were therefore choosing to travel longer distances, to places such as Fort Lauderdale, Florida and New York City. Several people, he said, explained that they were afraid to stay in Trinidad because of the crime situation. |
|
 |
| latest news |
|
|
| |
|
