As the country’s tourism industry reels from reduced travel on account of the COVID-19 pandemic, efforts are on to develop a virtual tourism industry for Barbados.
Word of this came yesterday from Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism and International Transport, Donna Cadogan, who said the ministry is “very conscious” of the impact of COVID-19 on the sector, and has determined that it will take a “fresh approach” to how destination Barbados is marketed. Her comments came yesterday after she, along with Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Senator Lisa Cummins, and other officials from the Ministry paid a visit to the Andromeda Botanic Gardens.
“We are working to develop Barbados’ assets in terms of launching them on a virtual platform. Like here we have Andromeda Gardens, we are going to be working with you and other attractions to see how we can develop a virtual platform where we can go online, we can sell our products online not only to visit Barbados physically, but also to sell to those persons who are overseas and unable to travel at this time,” she said.
Adding to her comments, Minister Cummins said that Barbados is a service driven economy of which tourism is one of those services, and so the intention is to refashion the way that service is marketed and utilised. She explained that one of the things the Ministry is trying to do is ensure that in the absence of mobility and even after mobility returns, that Barbados is able to have a tourism product that is “saleable, not just marketable and is monetised at every level”.
“COVID has given us an opportunity to see how disruptive technology has been to every single structure and if we don’t use this opportunity to have the downtime given by COVID, and disruption created by COVID to look at new innovative means of selling goods and services, and new technologies that are going to drive the tourism sector, then we would’ve learnt nothing from a perfectly good crisis,” she contended.
She added, “I look at Andromeda Gardens and think, ‘what a stunningly beautiful place to go on a walking trail; what a stunningly beautiful place to imagine if I was a runner, or if I was someone who was on my elliptical in my home – I haven’t come to Barbados, but I want an image of where I am walking through’. Then we are going to be working with our technology and our innovation professionals to create product around that virtual platform... We are going to be looking at how people can experience picnicking in this space. We even have been having discussions around gaming, how we are able to use gaming and e-rallying and those kinds of things around our attractions”.
The minster said that when COVID has come and gone, the goal is to have Barbados in a position where, whether tourists are coming to Barbados or not, there is a commercial service that they are purchasing throughout the year. The virtual tourism platform will allow for the development of a year-round tourism industry, she indicated.
“When tourists have returned to Barbados in full steam we want to be able to ensure we have these virtual platforms that become an addition to our arsenal of marketing tools. So that you can experience Barbados virtually before ever coming here and the attractions are able to get multiple bites at the same cherry where they are selling their product before the person comes to Barbados and then when they come and they experience it they say ‘oh my goodness this is so amazing, I experience this virtually already, but it is so much better in real life than I could have imagined’,” she said.
The Minister made it clear that tourism will therefore have an “entirely new look” which will be cutting edge, modern, technology driven, but also people inclusive. (JRT)