A drop in visitor spending remains a major challenge for the tourist industry.
President of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA), Colin Jordan, said hotels, restaurants, car rental agencies and tourist attractions were all feeling the squeeze.
“We have some of our attractions who have indicated to us that this past September has been even worse than the September before,” Jordan said during a media briefing at Island Inn Hotel on Thursday.
He told reporters that while tourist arrivals were up four per cent this year, “the challenge that we are having in the tourism private sector has to do with spending”.
Tourists were going to restaurants less, he reported.
“People are renting cars for shorter periods of time or not renting at all,” he admitted.
“There are persons who are now seen catching the bus to the airport with their bags when they are going to be departing.”
With the tourist attractions, “people are not visiting as much as they used to”, he reported.
Cautious tourists
Jordan said the reduced spending reflected caution by tourists, given uncertainty about the world economy.
“That caution on the part of our guests is really impacting our tourism businesses,” he conceded.
He said the BHTA was now working to come up with recommendations to deal with the spending problem, which would not be easy to address “because it is a confidence issue in the world economy”.
On the positive side, there are people keen on visiting Barbados, he noted.
“What we have to do is to get them to spend more when they get to Barbados and that is something that we are going to be addressing,” he said.
One of the ideas floated by the BHTA was getting the offerings of tourist attractions delivered to everybody coming through the Grantley Adams International Airport.
“We believe that if those people who arrive know what Barbados offers that they’re likely to choose at least some of the offerings,” Jordan explained.
“If they don’t know, if they have to wait until they get to the hotel and then maybe just a few of them are offered, then the take-up may be a little bit less.”
Jordan said that the “most significant aspect of the spending has to do with the accommodation” but hotel rate-setting had its own challenges. (TY)
