It was quite a revelation to read through the five newspaper pages of “indebted’ individuals and entities listed by National Insurance Board recently, from a tourism perspective.
Especially, when you realize that many of them, have either in the past and/or currently benefited from substantial taxpayer subsidies, grants or soft loans.
It seems almost incredible that, at least in some cases, limited – if any – due diligence has been practised between the various Government agencies involved before the monies were advanced.
Take the Tourism Industry Relief Fund (TIRF) as an example. I understand that this was purely intended to assist qualifying tourism businesses to maintain employment. I never saw it as a source of “free” funds to assist in the avoidance of statutory obligations.
Yet, well over a million dollars in TIRF monies was paid over to one named hotel alone.
Others, were allowed to access preferential interest rates through the Enterprise Growth Fund and perhaps most alarming of all, several are currently benefitting from taxpayer subsidised BTA promotions like the Barbados Island Inclusive promotion.
For the many enterprises, like ours, who have frequently struggled to pay our bills on time, it makes a mockery of those trying to do the right thing.
Almost anyone in business could contest that at some stage, they have experienced some financial problems or challenges, and this is clearly understandable.
But, as the Barbados Social Security clearly states the list applies to those “who have not made satisfactory arrangements to liquidate the outstanding debt (or) have not adhered to arrangements made”.
Again, if this disparity is allowed to continue, “we” are just allowing the goalposts to be modified one more time and disadvantaging others who are fighting to keep trading legitimately.
It also calls into question why there isn’t more communication between the various Government agencies in terms of compliance. Why is it possible to access public funds without an NIS clearance certificate, while it is a prerequisite for a licence to operate a hotel or restaurant.
It’s official, according to their website. From January 15, 2014, American Airlines will no longer operate a direct flight from New York to Barbados.
For travellers still wishing to fly with AA, including their 66 million frequent flyer members, it will now be possible only via Miami.
In a southbound direction either leaving JFK at 5:45 a.m. to arrive in Barbados at 2:40 p.m., or 12:45 p.m. arriving at 10:55 p.m. Northbound, departing 8:10 a.m. to reach JFK at 4:25 p.m. So a minimum journey time of seven hours.
Low-cost airline JetBlue is still offering a non-stop option, but clearly losing any significant competition is almost bound to drive fares up, making us, as a destination of choice, even less competitive.
Currently, the cheapest New York return fare in January with JetBlue, bookable in the United States, including taxes, is US$443.10. The timing of this route cessation is also a puzzle, at the peak travel time (winter high season) and while awaiting the final anticipated approval for a merger with US Airways.
It is also difficult to comprehend, while we were not able to sustain one tiny B737 flight daily from one of the largest urban conglomerations in North America, the 23 million populace of the Tri-State area.
In global terms, JFK Airport ranks 19th in the world, with passenger traffic reaching almost 20 million each year.
How much longer can we go on accepting failure?
• Adrian Loveridge is a hotelier of four decades’ standing.