Oppostion economic spokesman Clyde Mascoll has dismissed suggestions by the Central Bank of Barbados that there has been economic growth, driven by an improved performance in the tourism sector up to April this year.
Speaking Sunday night at a Barbados Labour Party St Michael North East branch meeting at Lawrence T. Gay Primary School, Mascoll called the performance claim “rubbish” and said that based on numbers there was no way that tourism could have improved in Barbados during the first quarter of 2011.
Mascoll charged that Government was misleading Barbadians by its use of in transit passengers as the major reason for growth in tourism figures. He noted that an individual staying one day in Barbados would hardly make a contribution to the economy.
The former Government minister said that 2009 figures showed there were “2.5 thousand in transit visitors”. He added that in 2010 there were “3.3 thousand in transit visitors”, and in 2011 that figure increased to “12.7 thousand people”.
The economist stated that of the 21 000 increased arrivals up to April 2011, 13 000 were people who stayed for one day.
“When the Central Bank says that the GDP in tourism has increased, it is because they have measured length of stay predominantly . . . the important thing is that it does not matter where the tourists come from, but how long he stays and how much he spends,” he noted.
The former Leader of the Opposition noted that when it was taken into account that hotels were discounting rooms, there was absolutely no way that tourism figures could have improved over the first quarter of 2011.
