It is predicted that there would be a five per cent growth in visitor arrivals to Barbados for 2017.
This is coming from Tourism Consultant and Public Relations Expert for the industry, Hugh Foster who delivered remarks recently at a tourism development workshop at Sandals Barbados.
He said that they hope to achieve this with an expanded airlift and increased marketing efforts via the various media forms which showcase this island as offering something special apart from its competitors.
“Government predicts a five per cent growth this year and with expanded airlift and intensified marketing underway we are quietly confident of getting there. The future looks bright. We intend to strengthen the Barbados brand in the face of fierce competition. For example, we introduced brand guidelines and a new brand video was developed along with a new promotional video to assist selling efforts to our partners. This helps in consolidating the messaging around factors that differentiate Barbados from its competitors.”
In addition, the administration has specific plans for each of this island’s major source markets for visitors. In the U.K., they plan to offer more airlift while in the USA, they would be focusing on the MICE factor as well as attracting the Diaspora.
“Allow me to leave with you a selection of the array of initiatives underway to promote the brand Barbados. In the U.K. which represents 35 per cent of our market share we anticipate more airlift from key gateways. In the USA, we are focusing inter alia on the MICE – the meetings, incentives, conferences, event markets and the Diaspora. The USA is our fastest growing market.”
Meanwhile, in Canada, they would be revitalizing their ‘Barbados on the Waterfront’ campaign as well as attempting to attract leisure travelers. Increased airlift would also be the focus for continental Europe and leisure travel for tourists from the neighbouring islands and Latin America.
“In Canada, we are re-starting the highly successful ‘Barbados on the Waterfront’ campaign after a five year hiatus while intensifying efforts to woo leisure travelers, sports and events travelers and the Diaspora. In continental Europe, this market has been growing steadily and with major new airlift from Air France, it is expected to perform better. In the Caribbean and Latin America, visitors continue to respond to the Barbados brand and are travelling here for leisure, sports and business,” said Foster.
A significant effort would also be placed on intensifying the promotion of sports since this year has been dedicated towards that area, he said.
“This year, the Barbados brand is dubbed the ‘Year of Sports’ and a huge effort is underway to maximize arrivals through [various] disciplines.”