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Don’t stay behind the barrier
9/23/2009
The Minister of International Business and International Transport, George Hutson, recently described Latin American countries, particularly those in South America, as a virtually untapped market of great potential for Barbados in the areas of tourism and trade.
Spanish has been the foreign language of choice in our secondary schools; and efforts to introduce the language at primary schools are a step in the right direction. However, the level of proficiency is generally too basic to seriously foster proper communication with a Spanish-speaking market.
The courses offered by the Barbados Community College geared specifically towards business and tourism are much more effective in this regard, and in more recent years, there has been a fresh crop of young people who are very proficient in Spanish – near bilingual – following studies abroad, particularly in Cuba. Unfortunately, their language skills are seriously undervalued in the current market, where most organisations do not view this skill as a significant asset to their business.
This is a narrow-minded stance to take, especially in this day and age when world travel is no longer the domain of any particular social class. Millions of people travel for recreation and business every year; is there any good reason why should we miss out on all these potential tourists from South America? Any traveller will admit that while it may be exciting to go to an exotic destination, it can also be a daunting experience when there is a language barrier. If the skills are out there – and they are – businesses involved in tourism should be making a greater effort to let potential customers know that they speak their language.
Be that as it may, we should not only view the South American market as the domain of the tourism industry; rather it should be viewed as one that will provide opportunities for expansion. When local businesses take the bold step of branching out into other territories, Latin American countries should also be considered as potential markets. The plans to open a diplomatic office in Brazil are quite in order and we would urge the authorities to continue to work assiduously to make this a reality. There are many lessons to be learnt from Brazil, which has one of the fastest-developing economies of this hemisphere. Tapping into the Brazilian potential also means that we will have to embrace a new foreign language and persons with foresight will take the initiative to capitalise on this new market.
Expansion into the Latin American market would also lead to the growth of an underdeveloped industry in Barbados – language services. Language skills are highly prized in multilingual environments such as the European Union and even in the US, where Spanish has become the unofficial second language. Such ventures would bring employment opportunities for many of the island’s language professionals, whose skills are underused in most cases due to the lack of regular demand for their services.
With more qualified professionals facilitating the necessary communications, we can go much further with reaching out to the Latin American market. One suggestion would be to tap into the local Latino Diaspora to foster business relationships in their home countries. Similarly, efforts to engage the Barbadian Diaspora in Latin America should continue, as was initiated during a prime ministerial trip to Cuba earlier this year. Our history tells us that there is a significant Barbadian presence in Panama and other Latin American countries, and we would do well to build on these linkages.
The Latin American market is booming; we should remove the barriers that stop us from capitalising on that.
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