A Taste Of The Turks & Caicos

with Martha Chapman

It’s not every day you get an invitation to “Cocktails at 10:00” (a.m. that is) so I was curious to see the inspiration for such pre-lunch festivities. The occasion was the opening of the new office for the Turks and Caicos Islands, located near Yonge and Sheppard in North Toronto and headed by longtime TCI booster Rosemarie Wilson.

Clearly the Islands are doing something right, to open an office when past years have seen so many tourist offices, sadly, close their doors.

The event was well attended with many of the island’s top tourism brass including Rufus Ewing, Premier of the Turks and Caicos, as well as local tour operators, airline reps and media.

“The opening of this office shows our commitment to Canada,” said the Premier, and other TC Islanders commented that they hoped the location would increase the visibility of the island to both business and leisure travellers.

The Premier’s visit to Canada raised the old, quirky issue of our making some sort of political alliance with the islands, which gained some prominence 40 years ago when an MP proposed a type of consolidation (to no doubt be accompanied by a one way highway operating to the tropical gems from December to April).

Just this week Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall invited the islands to join Canada as part of Saskatchewan, even suggesting a new moniker, perhaps “Saskaturks and Caicos” or ”Saskatchewarm”. Of course, this gave me the opportunity to conduct a very unscientific poll of the mimosa-sipping crowd at the office opening to see which should win out.

It looks like “PLS” has a sunny future: Canadian arrivals are up 13% year over year for the 1st quarter of 2014. Lift is on the rise, with year-round AC and WS service from YYZ; weekly AC and WS winter flights from YUL and weekly winter AC flights from YOW.

Oh, and the poll results? Saskatechewarm it is!