BTMI Director of the US Petra Roach joins emcee Mac Fingall as he performed one of his many hits.
Golden opportunity for local tourism sector
Sun, 05/15/2016 - 12:01am
By:
Janelle Husbands
The CONNECT 50 Gold Edition has created immeasurable linkages between Barbados’ hotels and other partners thanks to a visiting group of tour operators from Barbados’ main source markets.
If one were to attempt to quantify those linkages locally, Marketing Director of the BTMI Robert Chase says over the past few days, the over 50 visiting tour operators would have participated in more than 500 meetings (approximately 11 per person) with local hoteliers, and other operators over a two day period. They represented tour operations in the UK, USA, Canada, Europe and Caribbean and Latin America.
Speaking to the media during a farewell reception on Friday night at Hilton Barbados, Chase said, “They are fundamental to helping us to communicate our message about what Barbados has to offer as a destination to our customers in each of these markets.
“They are a critical element in terms of booking of our packages, they interface with our partners on the ground here in Barbados, our hotels, attractions and give them the chance to communicate their deals, specials and how their product has been upgraded back to our source market. So they are a fundamental part in us in selling the Barbados destination.
“We spent time at Waves property [which is] being redeveloped and the tour operators had a chance to see what those new products are going to look like in addition to seeing what new products such as the new Sam Lord’s Castle will look like down the road.
It is an opportunity to see the various opportunities for them to sell Barbados and bring visitors to Barbados which is fundamentally what Barbados Tourism and Marketing Inc’s role is all about.”
On Friday night however, during the farewell reception, the conference room was replaced by a dance floor as the visiting tour operators were treated to aspects of local culture, including delicacies and live entertainment featuring Mac Fingall, RPB, King Bubba FM and Porgie and Murda.
On Saturday the operators could opt choose from a number of activities including a walking tour of Holetown, Catamaran cruise, Bushy Park and Harrison’s Cave, Island Safari, the Mount Gay tour and the Atlantis Submarine. (JH)