As the winter tourist season drew to a close, it was predicted that this summer would not be a rosy one – either in terms of long-stay arrivals or cruise passengers.
Martin Ince, chief executive officer of cruise management company Foster & Ince Cruises, told the January 26 DAILY NATION Barbados was enjoying a “very busy” cruise season but based on expected cruise ship arrivals through his company, the island would have one of the most quiet summer seasons in recent years.
Ince said overall it had been a busy season for his company, with the upsurge in arrivals seen from the first week of November [2011] scheduled to continue until March. But with only the Carnival line coming once a week after that, Ince said: “The challenge is going to be what we need to do to get the ships back. As a grouping of cruise tourism entities in Barbados, that is where we need to focus.”
The Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association (BHTA) recently suggested a number of initiatives to Government that would help boost activity during this period.
In a document prepared ahead of Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler’s recent Budget, the key foreign exchange-earning sector said against a backdrop of rising energy prices, visitors’ reduced length of stay, a drop in room rates and “proliferation of home accommodation and other undocumented accommodation offerings”, members needed urgent assistance.
After calling for a return to the 7.5 per cent value added tax (VAT) on accommodation, hoteliers called on Government to offer a tax credit to Barbadians and households who spend their holidays in local hotels and properties under the Staycation programme.
The BHTA also recommended to the Minister of Finance that he set an amount that locals could spend in duty-free purchases while using the Staycation products.
According to the document Growth-Oriented Strategies And Proposals For Stimulating New Economic Activity In 2012, the BHTA said:
“We are requesting the Government to consider a rebate on the fuel charge for electricity bills for the entire sector for the period April 2012 until November 2012 to assist the industry through the upcoming summer months.”
Not only did the hoteliers call for direct assistance through these measures, they also asked Government to put more money into the Barbados Tourism Authority (BTA) for a three-to-six-month initiative.
They asked the administration to create packages for promotions such as the Queen’s Jubilee and Watch The London Olympics In Little England to drive business in the slow summer period through the BHTA’s www.bookbarbadosnow.com
The absence of the Rediscover The Caribbean Show this year will no doubt affect the sector.
In the March 19, 2012 BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY hotelier Adrian Loveridge lamented that unless a major sponsor came forward, the exhibit which is usually held in April would not take place and “this may prove to be one of the biggest mistakes ever”.
“The Barbados Tourism Authority lost interest in what would have been the eighth annual show by reducing their already limited financial support and not even being prepared to man a stand for the two-day event.
“It became ever more difficult to explain to the 20 other participating Caribbean countries who were willing and able to send a delegation, often at considerable cost, when the national marketing agency of the host country was half-heartedly supporting the endeavour,” he said.
Loveridge had noted that if three of Barbados’ traditional markets – Britain, Canada and the United States – failed to show some sign of growth this summer, any hope of maintaining visitor arrival numbers this year would have been up to [now defunct] REDjet’s extra air capacity.
He added that the Rediscover event itself brought in over 400 overseas delegates annually who all needed hotel accommodation, with secondary spending on meals, taxi transfers, car rentals and so on.
“Many extended their stay to take in some of our tourism offerings and/or visit travel agents,” he said.
Meanwhile, Minister of Industry, Small Business and Rural Development Denis Kellman said the inaugural Summer Arts Festival held in May would help fill a void in the tourism sector.
He said cultural offerings through the various festivals had been embraced as part of the tourism product in recent years, but the craft element is overshadowed by the performing arts in a lot of instances.
“The tourism market is very segmented, and there are [people] who are more interested in craft and the collection of souvenirs than music and dance. Events such as the Barbados Summer Arts Festival, which highlights the area of craft, fills that void,” Kellman said in the May 30 MIDWEEK NATION.
In addition, the June 22 WEEKEND NATION reported that although the Follow Me To Crop Over campaign is no longer in existence, the Barbados Tourism Authority (BTA) and the National Cultural Foundation had come up with a novel way to promote the festival and Barbados to the world.
Linda Christian-Clarke, BTA’s senior business development manager for the Caribbean and Latin America, said her organization has been doing half-hour radio programmes to promote the festival.
“We are now doing promotions in Trinidad with i95, Jamaica with Fame FM and Wave in St Lucia. The objective is to promote the sweetest summer festival and to increase persons’ knowledge of our festival,” Christian-Clarke said.
The BTA officer also added that “to further promote the festival, we invite journalists from around the region to report on the festival”.
Christian-Clarke further said she believed the programmes succeeded in bringing more people to Barbados’ shores during the season.