The elephant on Asa Wright’s veranda
An Alysis by MA rk Meredith
The reopening of Asa Wright Nature Centre (AWNC) has been greeted with delight by many as a welcome boost for Trinidad and Tobago tourism. It however comes at a price which only some may be able to afford.
Hadco, the company that won the AWNC’s request for proposals to operate and market the Asa Wright guest lodge and visitor facilities on a lease basis from the Asa Wright Trust, has successfully transformed the once dilapidated, shuttered property, that was evident a year ago.
The property is now almost unrecognisable.
Hadco boss co-CEO John Hadad explained to the media last week that he had wished the cost wasn’t as much as $14 million, as his estimates for the repair of AWNC was between $7 and $9 million.
He talked about a new pricing structure, explaining that his company decided to invest in AWNC, looking at it “as a foreign exchange earner and one that is relevant to the local community”.
Amidst the fanfare and ministerial photo ops of AWNC’s rebirth, a large elephant however sat in the room, or perhaps in the corner of the remodelled veranda.
What nobody asked, and what no one from Asa Wright or Hadco volunteered to say, was how this refurbished “foreign exchange earner” would affect the cost for those wishing to visit Asa Wright.
Under Hadco’s new pricing structure, the cost for a day visit to Asa Wright has leapt by approximately 816 per cent.
Before Covid, a day pass to Asa Wright, including a 90-minute nature trail tour, cost approximately TT$60, or if you were a foreigner, between US$6-$10, depending on your Google search result.
Today, your daily pass will cost TT$550, which includes a 30-minute “orientation” tour, lunch and tea— whether there is an option to skip lunch and tea, thus reducing the price, is one of the questions Sunday Business sent to John Hadad.
The only prices that have been made public are those circulating on social media, purportedly from Hadco, in response to queries from interested parties.
The local prices from May, which is low season, run at TT$1,700 per person sharing a twin room, or $3,400 per couple. Single occupancy is $2,000. The prices include all meals and taxes, but no tours are mentioned.
Sunday Business asked Hadad if at TT$1,100 per couple for a day pass Hadco was essentially pricing locals out of Asa Wright, with questions raised as to it being “relevant to the local community”.
Sunday Business also asked if there were special rates for citizens, residents or children, for school and educational groups which we have not heard about.
For tourists with foreign currency, Asa Wright’s bread and butter, staying there will not come cheap, and the question arises whether
AWNC will be able to compete with birding lodges in the Americas and elsewhere.
To get the US dollar rack rate you have to contact Hadco Experiences directly, the new arm of the company set up to deal with their new ecotourism business, because currently their website only tells you “Something awesome is coming!”
Hadco Experiences also includes Mt Plaisir Estate Hotel in Grand Riviere which the company bought and
is renovating, adding a swimming pool.
Asa Wright’s low season rates (from May) for overseas visitors sharing a twin room are US$400 per person, or US$800 per couple and again include meals and taxes.
At Mt Plaisir, the previous owner told Sunday Business the prices “have basically been doubled”, with nothing mentioned for children: US$350 per person, double occupancy, with meals.
Costa Rica, the cost is US$105 per person with breakfast. Meanwhile at the highly rated Arenal Observatory Lodge & Trails in Costa Rica the cost is US$170 per person, including breakfast and trails.
There is an all inclusive 12-day birding tour in Central America costing less than one week at Asa Wright.
A tour group leader, who runs 150 birding tours worldwide each year, told Sunday Business, “I think the rates are very high, right up there with some of the best eco lodges around. They (Hadco) better step up to the plate and give some pretty legendary service.”
The tour leader said for those prices other lodges would also supply lead outings.
“If (Hadco) thinks they’re going to get those prices in USD, and we’re going to hire guides to take us on outings, and if there’s no naturalist on the veranda, telling people what they’re seeing, I think they have a long road ahead.”
Cost reimbursement
It emerged at the media event that Hadco stands to get 25-50 per cent of those investment costs reimbursed by the Government, according to tourism minister Randall Mitchell.
Sunday Business asked Hadad, while it was understandable the company needed to recoup their investment, whether such price increases were necessary, or could a happy medium be found, given the Government reimbursement programme.
To that and all the other questions, including whether Hadco would rehire staff terminated by AWNC’s management during Covid, no reply has been forthcoming.
While Hadco’s pricing policy could be counterproductive to the company’s success, another threat remains to Asa Wright, an existential one for the institution and its avian star attractions.
At the relaunch, much was made of AWNC’s sustainable building credentials. Arima MP and Planning and Development Minister Pennelope Beckles enthused about the “installation of ultra-low carbon and energy-efficient air-conditioning units using new climate- and ozone-friendly hydrocarbon refrigerant”.
Comparative prices
In comparison to Asa Wright’s many competitors in Central and South America, the Trinidad lodge could appear expensive.
At the Guango Lodge in Ecuador, you will pay US$145 per person inclusive of breakfast, lunch and dinner. A stay at Natural Lodge in the Wildlife Refuge Cano Negro in Costa Rica is US$140 per person including breakfast. At Bosque de Paz
Meanwhile, down the Arima Valley, in view of the famous veranda and guests, the extremely un-climate-friendly quarrying operations taking place in front of the minister carried on in their rapacious fashion, threatening the sustainability of the very facility she was celebrating.
Sunday Business suggested to Minister Beckles that her ministry has the power to rescue Asa Wright by stopping the quarrying.
She thanked us for our interest.
boost for tourism: minister of Planning and Development Pennelope beckles, Hadco Group Co-CEo John Hadad, and minister of tourism randall mitchell enjoy the view from the balcony of the new and improved HADCo Experiences Asa Wright Nature Centre on thursday, April 6. —Photo: ROBERT TAYLOR