GOVERNOR of the Central Bank of Barbados Dr DeLisle Worrell has sought to dispel what he says is a myth that the island can grow tourism and international business by lowering its prices.
Speaking yesterday at the Grand Salle of the bank on day one of the Social Partnership’s Week Of Excellence, he said Barbados held a tiny share of Caribbean tourism – less than five per cent – and a minuscule percentage of global tourism to tropical resorts. Â
“So long as our prices are right, we can sell to our full capacity; if our prices are too high we’re out of the market altogether; and if our prices are too low, we are offering our customers a bargain at our expense, unnecessarily.
“If our prices are right, why do we sometimes fall below capacity when global markets contract? That is because we are maintaining our productivity relative to the competition, but we’re not improving,” he said.