Layne: Offer a unique product

The Carlisle Bay area has been earmarked for development by the Barbados Tourism Investment Inc. (BTI) to help add to the tourism product.Stuart Layne, chief executive officer of BTI, in addressing the 50th annual general meeting of the Barbados National Trust (BNT) last Wednesday evening at George Washington House, spoke on the proposed development in Bridgetown.  However, several persons in attendance voiced concerns over the proposed development. One person welcomed the plans but called for improvements to the current infrastructure and warned against improvements on a scale that would cause the area to lose its identity.Layne added that there was a committee established by Government to deal with the Coastal Tourism Master Plan, and the BNT had been enlisted as consultant to this committee and therefore cultural heritage issues were being taken into consideration. Layne, stating that when people flew into Barbados they wanted to see Barbados and not Miami, Florida, assured the audience that the development would reflect that.Also highlighted for development was Speightstown in the north. “Speightstown is actively being considered for some development,” Layne  said, “but plans are at a stage where they cannot be discussed.”Additional plans to introduce some incremental activities over the next 12 months could see Barbados actively pursuing health and wellness tourism. Speaking on that matter, Layne highlighted the uniqueness of the Barbados Fertility Centre at Seaston House, adding that it had the potential to give Barbados a competitive advantage when added to the current tourism product.He said that Barbados needed to go beyond the sun, the sea and the sand and offer value for money. “We need to identify three or four areas that we can own, not to compete but to differentiate ourselves from the others.” To this end, he proposed the development of meetings, incentive trips, conferences and event (MICE) markets, and also the construction of a state-of-the-art convention centre.  He said some of the constraints to the future of tourism were airlift, marketing and product. Layne said there was a need to diversify the tourism product, stressing that the product was not just a theme park or attractions, but the experience.Dr Karl Watson, in delivering the president’s report, described the past year as an eventful one for the trust. He said that despite the economic uncertainty and predictions for precarious economic conditions in the future, the trust had managed to maintain a degree of stability. It was disclosed that a dossier arguing the case for the listing of Bridgetown and the Garrison as a World Heritage site had gone forward to Paris and the trust was awaiting a visit from the evaluators. (LK)