EDITORIAL - High hopes for a good winter season

LATER this week Barbados’ 2016/2017 winter tourist season will commence. It will be the start of a hectic season in local tourism and will last until April next year. 

 

This is usually a good time for the tourism industry and it is hoped that the success of the 2015/2016 season will be repeated. 

 

Tourism is the country’s main export earner and we in Barbados have come to recognise that when the industry does well, there is an improved economic performance. The opposite happens when tourism stumbles, leading to all sorts of economic contortions as recent recessions have shown.

 

Over the course of the last two to three years, a significant effort has been undertaken to improve the industry and to make it more competitive. Measures have been put in place to attract new investments to the industry; concessions have also been granted – although in some instances these initiatives have not met with favourable responses from all quarters; new airlines and new ships are also being introduced;  and this winter will see airlines putting on additional flights and in some cases using bigger equipment. 

 

Naturally, Barbados will welcome all of these things since they are being done to boost the performance of the industry, in the face of mounting competition from other destinations.

 

Changes in tourism sector

This brings us to the point made by Mrs. Sue Springer, the outgoing CEO of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association, speaking at last week’s Fourth Quarterly Meeting of the Association. She is reported  as saying that a radical shift is taking place in the global tourism industry. This, according to her, means that local players in the industry have to adapt or get left behind. The balance of power is shifting, not in the favour of the business but in the interest of the traveller (or the customer) who is king.

 

Certainly, these are developments the industry has to not only watch, but be prepared to address so as to meet the changes head on.

 

Every destination, every market, every supplier of tourism services has been doing things to maximise benefits and earnings. In doing so, they are paying particular attention to service quality that brings satisfaction to travellers. The world has passed through one of its most biting recessions, and many of the new travellers do not have a lot of resources to spend on vacations. Once, therefore, stakeholders are able to do what is expected of them in the prevailing environment and keep at it rather than resting on their laurels, then benefits will accrue to the country.

 

The projections are for another good season which the country is going to relish. Last year the tourism performance was dubbed as phenomenal  when visitor arrivals increased by about 15 per cent. While that performance was indeed significant, another the picture that emerged was that spend was not enough given the numbers who came to Barbados. It was a very intense debate that demonstrated just how in tune people have become on these matters.

 

If the projections are realised, then Barbados stands to benefit, and so too will the economy.