AS ONE OF many nations within the Caribbean critically dependent on tourism, Barbados needs to stay ahead of its neighbours to maintain this economic lifeline. This country must have a competitive edge.
The long-held focus on sun, sea and sand to lure visitors to the island no longer has that magical appeal. Other destinations can offer a similarly idyllic vacation and at a much cheaper price.
Efforts to attract the well-heeled visitor has its benefits but this segment is too small to satisfy our demands. At the same time, the profile of the visitor coming from our traditional source markets in both Britain and North America is changing.
This is all happening as we must move from emphasising a winter high season to marketing this destination as a premier year-round vacation location. This calls for transformation of the tourism product.
It is a given that much of our room inventory needs refreshing. At the same time we must expand some of what we already offer in terms of attractions if we are to strengthen arrivals from our core markets. We must also find means of better exploiting opportunities from the cruise tourism sector.
Growing the leisure segment is perhaps this island’s most logical path forward for any tourism expansion without negatively
impacting on the ecology. Health, fitness, sport, entertainment and recreational offerings can capture a wide segment of the demands of the visitor market while creating new opportunities for more Barbadians.
Visitors are looking for fun-filled holidays where they can immerse in activities which thrill them. The available data from Britons shows that an annual getaway is seen as a necessity, and indications are that more will be spent on holidays in this and coming years.
These vacationers are the ones who follow their sporting idols and events with a passion. Understandably, making sport a major focus of a holiday is particularly important to young people, especially men. Huge sums are spent by British football fans and those following motor sport, cricket and rugby. We need to cash in on these opportunities.
This weekend proved the point of what is possible. The high number of visiting spectators at both the Garrison Savannah for horse racing and Kensington Oval for cricket clearly demonstrated the potential of leisure tourism. But, we already knew this from past experiences with visiting English cricket teams and last year’s inaugural T20 Caribbean Professional League.
The challenge for our tourism planners must be in diversifying and growing the island’s market share to ensure even more Barbadians benefit from the sector. It is important Barbados maintains its competitive edge.
