The year under review is certainly not dissimilar to the previous year, in that we were confronted with challenges, opportunities, achievements and a degree of uncertainty.
This was the assessment made by the newly appointed CEO of the Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association (BHTA), Rudy Grant at the 65th Annual General Meeting at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.
Grant affirmed, “In this globally competitive environment in which we operate, members must face the realities of global competitiveness if they are to remain relevant. Additionally, from a service delivery perspective, industry providers must not only meet the expectations of our visitors; they must exceed them. The shared economy dictates that we agitate for a level playing field in an effort to claim our share of the world market in an ever-changing industry.”
Some of the challenges the industry faced during the past year include the lingering threat of the Zika virus; the fallout of the Brexit vote and subsequent drop in value of the pound; the traditional decline in travel during the Olympic games as well of the USA Elections.
Grant believes, “There still remains a level of unpredictability within the UK market, which saw a fall-off in business following the Brexit vote result. It is hoped that this market will settle down after the June 2017 elections but there continues to be unease in the market. The devaluation of the Canadian dollar was also cause for concern as well as the performance of economies in Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America market.”
Notwithstanding these challenges, there was still some glow on the horizon with opportunities for increased business as a result of the additional airlift which realised an increase in inbound seats from many key major markets during the year. The total number of additional inbound seats for 2016-17 was around 50,000, which was a significant increase over the previous year.
He continued, “Additional opportunities and successful results include the refurbishment and upgrades of several hotels; the ongoing expansion of Sandals Resorts with an additional 222 rooms with Sandal Royal; the mobilization of construction for the Wyndham Sam Lord’s Castle and the impending start-up of the Hyatt hotels. These expansions and developments have, without a doubt, sent a positive message for potential investors as it relates to the development of Barbados tourism…” (NB)