Tourism planners must cash in on the big names in show business who continue to be attracted to the island, say tourism officials.
Chairman of the Barbados Tourism?Authority (BTA), Adrian Elcock, sees it as “no coincidence that we have all these big stars coming to Barbados”.
“We had Jennifer Hudson, Maroon 5, [and] John Legend is supposed to be performing here on May 10,” Elcock said.
“There is Wyclef?Jean at the [Farley] Hill, and I read somewhere Fantasia is returning to Barbados late June.”
Elcock saw an opportunity for BTA personnel who handle events to get involved.
“My events people at the BTA, if we have not been invited, we need to be talking to those promoters,” he suggested.
“Millions and millions of people follow these idols . . . . We follow them here in Barbados, they follow them around the world. We have to somehow find a way to [place] our brand into their lingo and into their experience and create the curiosity and the awareness in the marketplace.”
Elcock said he would also like to see the appropriate media coverage given to these international acts when they come to Barbados, and have that footage “put out on the wire” so that the high-profile figures could “communicate their experience in Barbados, even if we have to spend a few extra dollars for them to grant the interview.
“I think that is something the BTA should facilitate.”
The BTA chairman also thought ways should be devised for international personalities “to fully experience our island”.
Executive director of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association Sue Springer saw the exposure Barbados gets as a “tremendous boost” to the island’s marketing efforts, with an “extensive reach” in desirable markets.
Other celebrities spotted here this year were Mel C from the Spice Girls, reality TV star Amber Rose and rapper Fabolous. X Factor judge and former American Idol icon Simon Cowell, and Colleen Rooney, wife of English football star Wayne Rooney, also frequent the island.
That high-profile visitors like those recently here, including Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow who was tracing her family roots, were able to move around the island almost incognito, almost free of unwelcome harassment from paparazzi, placed Barbados in a favourable position as an escape, she said.
“They have been able to come here, walk about the island, and except for the odd person that may ask for an autograph, they are not bothered, and I think this is a plus for Barbados,” Springer added.
