Chairman of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA), Geoffrey Roach, says it is imperative that efforts be made to educate and build awareness among the general public about the tourism industry, and the positive impact it has on lives and livelihoods.
Speaking earlier this week during the fourth quarterly meeting of the BHTA, held via Zoom, Roach indicated that to assist with that need, the Association will soon be launching a programme aimed at building such awareness. His comments came as he said this move is not simply because “we want to, but because we need to”.
“Having read comments regarding tourism by some persons in the past few weeks, it is clear to me that there are persons, some who one might expect to have had a better understanding, who do not appear to properly understand the role tourism plays. The level of investment that has been made, the global competitiveness of this industry, the many lives that are touched by this industry - not just the lives of employees within the accommodation sector or within the attractions sector, not lives of tour operators and employees, but of persons employed in retail, the distributive sector, farmers, water sports operators, supermarket employees, and the list goes on,” he stated.
He added, “There was a tourism tree that was developed some time ago, I think we need to pull that out, dust it off and make that tree properly known to all”.
Roach went on to say that the BHTA’s Marketing Sub-committee has been working on a number of programmes that are also geared at assisting in the positioning of the industry. He explained that the programmes will range from such matters as driving business to members, to projects that would assist in boosting the appeal of Barbados as a destination.
During his remarks, he also said the industry is too vital and too important to the economy of Barbados to allow it to fail.
“Failure does not necessarily mean that a business closes, but imagine a degradation in the plant, whether it be an attraction or an accommodation provider, to the point where the guest experience is negatively impacted. We know in this day and age how fast negative news spreads. The flip side of this however, is that this is the time to enhance and improve our facilities, where possible, as we know that the pandemic has had a severe impact on cash flows and cash reserves,” he added.
He made the point while noting that as the word emerges from the crisis, this country will face intense competition to attract travellers as other destinations across the globe will also be emerging from the crisis. He said destinations will be in competition for the same travelers. With that in mind, he went on to say that steps are being taken to position Barbados for a rebound in tourism business. Roach indicated that the Ministry of Tourism and the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc., have been in discussion with cruise lines, airlines, travel planners and many other persons to ensure Barbados is well poised to make the most of the recovery, and he added, the BHTA has been and is willing to continue to play its part in those efforts. (JRT)