Welcome Stamp legislation amended

OVER the year that the Barbados Welcome Stamp has been in operation, the country netted approximately $8 million in fees generated from that programme.

Word of this has come from Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Senator Lisa Cummins, who said that approximately 4,800 persons were living and working in Barbados over the last year under that programme. She made the disclosure yesterday morning as she piloted the Remote Employment (Amendment) Bill, which was later passed by the Senate. The amendment has been sought, she said, to allow for the welcome stamp to be renewed and for the fees to be paid for the renewal of the stamp for those persons who have been here for the last year.

“The Welcome Stamp is a perfect example of one of those things that became the first mover advantage, but has to continuously be innovative in order to ensure that we can play bigger. That we can play bigger in more markets, that we can play bigger and claim the larger share of those markets, that we can attract more people to this market,” she stated.

She made the point while noting that spending by welcome stampers is considerably higher than that of regular visitors who spend between US$150 and $300 daily, as it takes them a minimum of $100,000 a year to sustain themselves. She said some of the welcome stampers have purchased real estate on the island and their contribution to the country is touching every level of the economy and every income class.

Minister Cummins spoke highly of the programme, adding that efforts must be made to ensure that it remains a part of the tourism sector in Barbados. Her comments came as she noted that from the onset of the pandemic, Government recognised that there was a need, if the country’s main economic earner was going to survive, to diversify away from pure short-stay arrivals into long-stay arrivals.

“But more importantly, Mr. President, in the context of a global pandemic, we found ourselves dealing with a situation where many of our partners, many of our major source markets in particular, were dealing with lockdowns, they were dealing with high infection rates, they were dealing with surging COVID numbers, they were dealing simultaneously with closures and high death rates; and as a result, there were any number of concerns about where in the world could they find to spend and pass this time,” she said.

She added, “...So those who took advantage of the welcome stamp made a determination that COVID rates notwithstanding, infection rates notwithstanding, death rates notwithstanding and lockdowns notwithstanding, they could work from anywhere in the world, and many of them chose to work from Barbados.”

The Minister went on to say that the demand for the welcome stamp is high and the community of remote workers are interested in seeing the programme extend beyond July 30, when the original visa is set to expire.

“The welcome stampers who are here, they have their own community. They have their own Facebook groups and all social media groups. They share information on where to find everything. They probably know Barbados better than I do... And many of them, Mr. President, have asked us to ensure that despite a pandemic continuing and surges and lockdowns, that despite having to do with ash outside of their homes and restrictions sometimes of their movement, and despite living through a hurricane here with us, they want to extend their stay here in Barbados beyond this first year,” she said.

Cummins added that the long-stay visitors that make up the welcome stamp community, have also resulted in multiple short-stay visitors coming to the island.  

“High and low, people are benefiting from this welcome stamp. Some taxi drivers are benefiting. Airbnb owners are benefiting. I met another family, Mr. President, who said the wife, the husband and their two children were here, but their mothers were also coming in with their siblings for Christmas. So a long-stay visitor translates into multiple short-stay visitors because their families are coming to visit them, because they’re hearing about these experiences in this place called Barbados,” she stated. (JRT)

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