Barbados’ project to bring in substantial air-lift from South American powerhouse Brazil is under review, Minister of Tourism and International Transport Richard Sealy has revealed.
The minister admitted there have been good and bad days for the project which commenced two years ago, but that Barbados Tourism Authority would now be looking at new ways to improve the numbers of Brazilians who come to these shores.
Speaking this morning at the first quarterly meeting of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) held at the Accra Beach Hotel, Sealy also admitted the attempt to draw visitors from South America’s largest country was not easy, and that he had taken a “lot of licks” personally for spearheading the project.
“We have had our challenges, but we will continue to work on Brazil,” he said.
According to Sealy, Government had no plans on shelving the project since the entire Latin American region is a powerful one, and research has shown that Brazilian visitors are usually high spenders.
Sealy, who is currently acting as Prime Minister, revealed that over the next year, the stakeholders on the sector would be looking at ways to utilize the fact that Brazil is set to host two of the planet’s largest sporting events, the FIFA World Cup, and the Olympic Games.
Sealy said Barbados will continue to seek new source markets, but would in no way ignore the traditional markets such as the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. The Minister said that along with the Brazilian project, special attention would continue to be paid to the Scandinavian market, which had been re-introduced two years ago.
He noted that with a consular mission placed strategically in China, Barbados would steadily make attempts to enter the lucrative Asian market. He noted, however, that Government, because of its financial constraints in the midst of the current recession, would have to take time before official negotiations could start with countries such as China and India. (BA)
