Business travelers in much of the Caribbean can't be blamed for feeling like fish out of water as they tote briefcases through tropical airports jammed with tourists from the U.S., Canada, and Europe. But that's hardly the case in Trinidad, where oil and gas are king, and business travelers have outnumbered sun worshippers for decades.

The energy sector remains a powerhouse in the twin-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago, birthplace of steel pan drum and calypso music, but also the world's fifth-largest exporter of liquid natural gas (LNG) and a major producer of ammonia and methanol. The national economy has expanded annually for 13 straight years, including growing 12 percent in 2006. Not surprisingly, most business travel to Trinidad and its capital, Port of Spain, involves the energy industry, including visits to companies like BP and BG Trinidad and Tobago, Lake Asphalt, and the T&T National Gas Company.

Altogether, the energy sector accounts for 80 percent of Trinidad and Tobago's exports, 40 percent of its GDP, and half of all government revenues. That's both a blessing and a source of concern for Trinidad officials, who have recently undertaken a major effort to diversify the economy, including new investments in tourism and a major initiative to attract international finance firms and meetings and conventions.

A major subset of this plan, called "We are Next" and led by the government's Evolving Technologies and Enterprise Development Co. (e-TecK), is focused on attracting firms from seven distinct industries: downstream petrochemicals, film and TV, fishing and fish processing, food and beverage, information communication technology, leisure marine, and merchant marine.

On quieter Tobago, the emphasis will be on developing more sustainable tourism, such as the Golden Grove project, a 200-unit mixed hotel/residential project, says James Hepple, president and director of the Trinidad and Tobago Tourism and Development Company.

Hepple said a recent audit revealed that current LNG resources will be tapped out by 2020 unless further exploration reveals new reserves. "Obviously we needed to do what Dubai and Abu Dhabi have done, which is to use the resources we have coming in now to diversify," he said.

Trinidad's "Vision 2020" plan includes a number of infrastructure and transportation initiatives designed to maintain the island's legacy of self-reliance and attract new businesses to the island. The centerpiece of the plan to revitalize the capital city of Port of Spain is the $253-million International Waterfront Project, which will include a 428- room Hyatt Regency Hotel, a state-of-the-art conference center, the headquarters of the Association of Caribbean States, and a pair of office towers.

A container port currently located on the Port of Spain waterfront also will be relocated. "The whole area will be rededicated to office complexes, hotels, and residences," said Hepple. "The intent is to make it a financial center similar to Panama City."

The Vision 2020 plan also calls for spending approximately $95 million to develop the Tamana InTech Park, billed as the first science and industrial park in the Caribbean. When completed in 2010, the park will house the main campus of the University of Trinidad and Tobago and serve as the "premier institution for academic research, as well as development facilities that are critical for diversifying the non-energy export base and facilitating industrial expansion," according to the Trinidad Ministry of Planning and Development.

The Trinidad Ministry of Trade also is implementing a plan to attract information technology and data-processing firms interested in utilizing the nation's well educated, English-speaking population.

The International Waterfront Project is slated for completion in 2009, but the Hyatt will debut this December—the first new full service business hotel to open in Trinidad since 1962. The hotel will feature 43,000 square feet of meeting and convention space, including a 16,000-square-foot ballroom and seven smaller meeting rooms.

In a nod to its neighbors at the Association of Caribbean States, the conference center will be equipped with state-of-the-art translation services to accommodate expected international diplomatic gatherings. Hotel general manager Russell George said the meeting and convention facility will be the largest attached to a hotel in the Caribbean.

"We see the U.S. as our primary market," said George. "I think Trinidad will become a destination for conferences and meetings like those now being held in Florida and Puerto Rico." Selling points will include a revived historic center in Port of Spain and the proximity of Tobago's beaches, he said.

Other features of the new hotel include a 9,000-square-foot spa, fitness center, full business center, and guest rooms with flat panel 32-inch TVs, I-home desks and wireless high-speed Internet access. Like the venerable Hilton Trinidad & Conference Center, the Hyatt will be owned by the Trinidad and Tobago government.

The government also is investing $40 million into renovations at the Hilton, upgrading rooms with wireless Internet and flat-panel TVs and adding a pair of new restaurants. "I'm not worried about being left behind," says Ali Kahn, general manager of the Hilton Trinidad, although he expects his occupancy to fall from the lofty 80 percent it now enjoys to around 60 percent after the Hyatt opens. "I think there's enough business in the city at the moment—including conference and convention business and business travel on peak nights—that both facilities will do well."

However, Kahn said, the success of the hotels is closely tied to the government's success in marketing Trinidad and Tobago as a destination for meetings and conventions, a market where the country has had little past appeal. "The oil and gas industry is not going to fill up all of these hotels," said Kahn, who said financiers are closely tracking the fortunes of the two hotels as bellwethers for future investments in Trinidad.

Facing competition for business travelers' hearts and wallets for the first time will ultimately be good for the Hilton, Kahn contends. "Oil and gas executives are going to five-star hotels in Europe, and they are rightfully demanding [high levels of service], and the rate is not an issue," he said.

"Business travelers must see improvement in infrastructure," added Kahn, who described Trinidad's progress on this front as slow. Trinidad's Piarco International Airport was renovated about five years ago, and planners are currently considering building a light-rail system to serve travelers, according to Hepple. Plans also are on the table to improve the island's road system.

American Airlines flies twice daily from Miami to Port of Spain, Continental flies out of Houston, and Delta has service from Atlanta and plans to start a New York to Trinidad flight in December. Still, airlift remains a major concern as Trinidad and Tobago look to future development, experts say. "It's well and good to say we want to host these conferences, but we need to have the airlift to facilitate that," said Hepple.

"They're putting a lot into place, but much more needs to be done," said Kahn. "We have all these revenues from oil and gas, and if they are used for fast infrastructure development, we will benefit. But if not, the business cycle will be over."