Barbadians might have been hoping that, during this Christmas season, they could enjoy some respite from the pressures of thinking about the local economy and the undoubted challenges that will have to be tackled in the New Year.
The Ministerial Statement by the Minister of Finance would have given a glimmer of hope at the end of what has generally been a stressful year for many of those who have lost their employment, and to a lesser extent, those businesses who would have suffered in their bottom line from the resultant loss of purchasing power.
The Standard & Poor’s downgrade came like a bucket of cold water in the face. It really is the type of Christmas present that Barbados least wants at this time. Yet the report of the credit agency highlights some of the very challenges of which we are all aware and which the Minister and his colleagues have reassured us that they are facing and fixing.
But all is not gloom and doom, although one would be foolish to ignore this bad news. We are heartened as Barbadians that the Government and Standard & Poor’s seem both to be of the view that tourism sector investment will pick up. The minister told us about expected new investment in that sector and the rating agency speaks about new projects, although the agency noted that there was some uncertainty about their timing and scope.
The season has opened full of promise and the removal of the British APD, and the restart of a Delta Airlines service from Atlanta and its inclusion of a service from New York is clear proof that we are still a force in the marketplace.
In an ideal world, there are some areas of general policy that should be beyond the reach of partisan criticism if we are to leverage the talents and resources that we have. Tourism is one such area of policy. Both political parties and the vast majority of our people understand that we cannot abandon tourism. It is an earner of foreign exchange and a source of congenial employment for our people.
That consensus of political will should be joined by a national will generated among our people to ensure that each Barbadian holds hands in a partnership which allows the Government and the people to demonstrate a commitment to deliver the most excellent tourism experience to every tourist visiting our country.
The view that “dah beach is mine” has to be recognised for what it is: an affirmation of our new nationhood. But any such affirmation must go hand in hand with the policy that we can grow the fullest potential of our beach ownership, by allowing others to visit us and enjoy our facilities even as we help to build our country and our economy by the gains we reap from their stay with us.
Harassment of tourists on our beaches, and other than excellent service to our visitors both in stores and at their accommodation must become a thing of the past.
If we truly understand the influence of a good tourism industry on our Island’s economy, then we recognize the difference between an economy which helps the government to deliver social services of a high order in a society which earns foreign exchange and is able to generate jobs; and a society in which, the State without the critical revenues and gains of its tourism industry struggles to satisfy the normal aspirations of its people.
As the Season opens we are reminded that tourism is our business. It is. That too is one of the major lessons of S & P’s latest downgrade report. Things may be challenging but even so; tourism is a bright light in the economy. It is the business of each one of us to make sure that it fulfils its promise.
