Barbados’ stay-at-home hotel vacation deal raked in $1 million in the last seven months.
“From March to September . . . the Staycation programme generated for tourism businesses in Barbados $1 million,” president of the Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association (BHTA), Colin Jordan, said during a news briefing yesterday at Island Inn Hotel.
According to Jordan, spending on the Staycation deal this year was significantly up on last year, when the project was launched to help hotels through the tough economic times that included a downturn in travel.
Jordan said taking holidays at home “has really helped the cash flow for tourism businesses in Barbados – accommodations, restaurants, attractions”.
Such spending “helps tourism businesses to stay afloat; it keeps people employed . . . and it also keeps foreign exchange in the country”, he told reporters.
Against the backdrop of falling tourist arrivals, the Staycation programme ran as an experiment from April to June last year, to test the interest from tourist properties and the response of the public.
The second promotion was from July to November 2009, involving 41 hotels and villas, six restaurants and 11 tourist attractions.
The project, which offers Barbadians and CARICOM nationals significantly discounted rates to take vacations at hotels here, was so successful that the BHTA relaunched it last March, with at least 52 hotels committed to taking part in it.
Jordan linked the success to Barbadians being cautious about spending on holidays in a climate of economic uncertainty.
“The same caution that potential visitors from outside of Barbados are demonstrating, that you are not sure about the job etc., that kind of caution, because of the climate, also speaks to Barbadians,” he explained.
Barbadians too were making decisions such as “maybe I should stay at home and enjoy a vacation, rather than spend thousands of dollars overseas on the vacation”, Jordan said.
There had also been a shift, with more Barbadians now taking in the local attractions and dining in good restaurants, Jordan reported.
“They’re using the opportunity, because of the economic recession, to make some of those decisions,” he added.
“Based on the feedback we’re getting, they’re also enjoying those experiences and I believe that they’re going to repeat those Staycation experiences year after year.”
