All of this has not been without its challenges, of course. Mr. Smith cites procurement as being one of the major hurdles that the TCIAA has had to overcome: “We are an island country – everything is imported – and trying to get equipment here in a timely manner can be difficult. The other challenge we have is with our vehicles, mainly the fire engines, which are very costly. Operating in a salt environment, the rate of deterioration is much higher than elsewhere, and the replacement period is much shorter.”
On the achievement side, Mr. Smith is emphatic: “It’s all about recovery, and that starts with our wonderful local staff; the turnaround from losing $3 million a year to generating revenues of $37 million; the focus on infrastructure development in the five aerodromes the Authority is responsible for; and working with Tourism partners, we were able to increase passenger numbers from 20,000 per month in 2007, to averaging 42,000 per month, at present. In 2007, there was a two or three month off-season trough period. Today, we don’t really have an off-season.”
