For months, a key protected eco-tourism destination in Trinidad and Tobago has remained shuttered, and the nation’s leading inbound tour operator collective is pushing authorities to reverse the closure, calling the current public health measure disproportionate and damaging to local livelihoods.
The Trinidad and Tobago Incoming Tour Operators Association (TTITOA) is demanding a targeted, evidence-based rewrite of the current policy governing access to the Bush Bush Sanctuary, a protected natural area located within the Nariva Swamp. The site was sealed off to all visitors and entry permits suspended in March 2026, after local health authorities confirmed yellow fever viral traces in a deceased howler monkey found within the sanctuary’s boundaries.
In an official statement released this week, TTITOA Vice President Stephen Broadbridge highlighted that the prolonged full closure has already caused immediate, measurable harm to local eco-tourism businesses and community members who rely on visitor activity for stable income. Unlike many casual tourist destinations, guided tours of Bush Bush Sanctuary have operated as a core community-led sustainable tourism offering for more than 30 years, providing a consistent livelihood for hundreds of people living in surrounding settlements.
Broadbridge added that past yellow fever scares in the region do not support a full, long-term closure. More than a decade ago, a similar event unfolded when dead howler monkeys linked to yellow fever were discovered in the sanctuary. At that time, officials allowed tours to continue, the outbreak faded on its own, and no cases of human infection were ever recorded, he noted.
TTITOA argues that the current blanket suspension of access fails to stand up to scrutiny on both public health and economic grounds. The association points out that yellow fever risks cannot be contained to the Bush Bush Sanctuary alone: both howler monkey populations (the species in which the virus was detected) and mosquito vectors that can spread yellow fever are distributed across multiple regions of Trinidad. If risk exists nationwide, closing just one site does little to improve overall public health safety, the group says, creating an issue of policy consistency that stakeholders have repeatedly questioned.
Further, the association notes that eco-tourists who travel to Trinidad and Tobago specifically to visit sites like Bush Bush Sanctuary are typically well-informed about regional health risks, and the vast majority obtain required yellow fever vaccinations before arriving, which drastically reduces the chance of viral transmission.
Instead of a full site closure, TTITOA has put forward a series of alternative policy recommendations that balance public health protection with the economic survival of the local tourism sector. The group is calling for strengthened public health advisories that mandate or strongly encourage vaccination for all visitors entering the sanctuary, clear, transparent risk communication strategies for tour operators and guests, and the resumption and expansion of the government’s game warden program. The warden program would allow the state to consistently monitor the sanctuary’s ecosystem, track yellow fever activity in local animal populations, and protect the ecologically sensitive site from unsustainable activity.
The tourism sector in Trinidad and Tobago has already faced prolonged economic strain in recent years, and TTITOA emphasizes that overly restrictive, unbalanced measures threaten the long-term viability of a sector that supports thousands of livelihoods across the country. The association is urging public health and tourism authorities to open direct dialogue with industry stakeholders to craft response measures that are both effective at protecting public health and considerate of the sector’s economic needs.
As of press time, repeated attempts by local media to reach Tourism Minister Satyakama Maharaj and Agriculture, Land and Fisheries Minister Ravi Ratiram for comment on TTITOA’s demands have not been successful.