BUSINESS MONDAY: TOURIST SPEND UP

ALMOST two billion dollars in inflows from the local Tourism industry and the year has not yet ended.

Latest data on tourist spend indicate that between January and September 2019, travel credits totalled $1.9 billion compared to $1.6 billion for the previous nine months in 2018.

For the whole of 2018, Tourism injected $2.2 billion into the economy. So far this year, Barbados welcomed 521 000 long-stay passengers, up from about 500 400 a year earlier.

That surge in the tourism numbers was based on higher arrivals from the UK market, which increased nine per cent and the United States 10 per cent.

Together, those two markets accounted for about 65 per cent of total long-stay arrivals, the Central Bank of Barbados said. However, it said that other markets did not do as well.

Some 168 300 visitors came here from the United States between January and September 2019, whereas those from the UK amounted to 172 000.

Governor of the Central Bank, Cleviston Haynes, said at his recent news conference that despite the sustainable growth in long-stay arrivals over the past five years, Barbados’ share of visitors to the region remains below 2000 levels while market share for cruise continues to be on a downward path.

It was revealed by Haynes that increased airlift and special events are expected to provide an impetus to the tourism sector the next year.

“New investment projects, mainly in tourism and alternative energy, are in the pipeline to come on stream in 2020, including the airport and seaport expansion and the pierhead expansion,” the Central Bank official had said.

However, he added that early implementation of these projects could raise the growth outcome.