Saying it is an issue that can’t be ignored much longer, Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados, Dr Kevin Greenidge, is calling for an urgent fix to intra regional travel.
Greenidge, one of the panellists on Wednesday’s Caribbean Economic Forum, said this persistent problem posed a risk to the Barbados economy via the main income earner, tourism.
“When you look at the numbers, that’s one area in which we have been declining over time, less traveling among ourselves,” Greenidge said.
“I agree that there is an urgent need to find a solution to the intra regional travel [challenge] and what I think we need to do is put our heads together and become creative from possibilities of express ferries along the coastlines, [and] maybe sub regional travel.
“I know it’s high on CARICOM’s agenda, and I look forward to see what we come up with but we must definitely solve the issue because we continue to lose tourism share. Caribbean’s share of world tourism continues to fall because we haven’t solved this issue. And we have so much to offer in our diverse space in terms of tourism product, I think is something we cannot ignore much longer,” the Governor added.
The other panelists were chairman of the CARICOM Private Sector Organisation Gervase Warner, and Caribbean Policy Development Centre Development Specialist, Geneva Oliverie. (Nation News)
