The Barbados Tourism Authority (BTA) is claiming a measure of success in the Brazilian market, with GOL Airlines bringing over 5 000 Brazilians to Barbados last year.
This performance, according to BTA president David Rice, is “very pleasing” and the BTA will be seeking “a greater partnership” with GOL when it renegotiates with the airline shortly.
Barbados established an agreement with the low-cost airline in June 2010 for direct flights from Sao Paulo to Barbados, a move whose cost and viability were questioned in the House of Assembly during last year’s Estimates debate.
But speaking at the Island Inn Hotel during the BTA-hosted seminar on Brazil last week Rice reported that GOL had recorded a better first year performance than other airlines with whom the BTA and Barbados have had similar airlift arrangements.
Responding to complaints about the cost of the GOL-Barbados operation last year, Minister of Tourism Richard Sealy pointed out that Barbados had “a revenue arrangement” with GOL Airlines “in the same way it had arrangements in place with other airlines”.
And on Monday, Rice described Brazil as a “gold mine” which Barbados should fully exploit, considering the island’s failing tourism fortunes in the traditional markets now hard hit by global recession.
Addressing seminar participants drawn from across the local tourism sector, the BTA’s Brazil representative Gisele Abrahao pointed out Brazilians were spending US$21 billion annually on international travel and the Caribbean was tenth on their list of favourite destinations.
Curaçao, Aruba and St Martin are cashing in on the Brazilian business and Abrahao felt Barbados could also be a favourite choice because of its structure, people, interesting range of activities and entertainment.
Abrahao urged the teaching of Portuguese across the board here, saying facility with the language was an important factor to increasing the number of tourists from her country where 19 new millionaires are emerging every day. (GC)
