Yuletide is upon us, with all the traditional good cheer that is so much a part of the season; but there are some troubling signs on the horizon for our tourism and services sectors.
The international financial sector was recently the subject of much negative comment, and we have had the assurances of the Government that everything was being done to protect and project the sector.
But no sooner had these assurances been given than we were confronted by the spectre of a summer cruise tourism product that presented an ugly picture for the immediate future. Also, the British have decided to ignore our arguments for reducing or eliminating the air passenger tax and would instead increase it by ten per cent.
This is a massive body blow to an important sector of our economy, and while we have been valiant in our efforts, the fact of failure leaves a bad taste in our mouths; but the battle must continue, since tourism is a very important plank in our economic structure.
Now to the facts and figures concerning the cruise sector of our tourism product.
This sector was developed to complement the traditional “fly into Barbados” aspects of our tourism product. It enabled us to maximize the revenue and foreign exchange potential of our tourism and it generated employment for thousands of Barbadians, especially needed in the summer months.
Mr Colin Jordan, president of the Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association (BHTA), has expressed concern about the state of the cruise tourism industry. In his recent address to the BHTA, he disclosed that only one cruise ship would call weekly at the Bridgetown Port next summer.
His language was graphic, but then Mr Jordan has been an articulate president. Here is how he puts it: “We have a crisis on our hands, and Nero, the system, seems to be fiddling quite contentedly.”
Mr Jordan made the point that he is not using the word “crisis’ to evoke an emotional response, but that the situation was grave. Given the factual data that we shall have only a single cruise ship calling weekly during the summer, we do not think his language was exaggerated.
There is a crisis at hand, and all of us, both in the private and public sectors must bend our backs together to do whatever is necessary to put the life back into cruise tourism!
We are mindful of the president’s comment that the public sector has been slow off the mark. The BHTA president said that his organization was amazed by “the sloth that seems to characterize the approach of the policymakers to the situation of the cruise industry . . .”.
This is a stunning statement, and we cannot think that it was lightly made. The BHTA has called for public sector leaders to take some action.
If the accusation about the policymakers is correct, and we can hardly doubt those in the private sector who are at the frontline, then urgent action is required to seek to correct that which has gone wrong.
