New tourism activities needed – Thompson

Deputy President of the Senate Elizabeth Thompson is calling for more local private sector investment in indoor and outdoor recreational facilities across the island. In fact, she has suggested that perhaps the time had come for Government to encourage this by offering incentives.

Insisting that all Barbadians should benefit from investments on the island, Thompson argued that too often monies were poured into projects that did not include people in and around those communities.

“Far too many of our products, and we are grateful for investments, but a lot of expenditure and investments happen or monies are paid outside of Barbados, and therefore, it is critical as we create new tourism attractions and expand our tourism product that we create avenues for Barbadians to earn and earn well,” said Thompson.

Contributing to the debate on the Cave Amendment Bill, 2022 in the Senate on Wednesday she said, “Really, we need to have the private sector fully engaged, and if government has to offer – because it is government’s responsibility to stimulate, to regulate and to incentivise – some kind of stimulus, to the private sector in order to generate and encourage greater investment and diversification of the tourism product and the activities, that time has come,” declared Thompson.

Pointing out that some places “are full” with locals many days, Thompson said this showed that particularly coming out of COVID there is a “hunger and demand” for activity. This, she said, was coupled with the demand from tourists.

“People want places for their children to go, young people want places to go, older people as well and therefore it is critical that we start now in modern Barbados to have more activity, different kinds of activity and that we create a new tourism product,” said Thompson. She suggested bowling alleys as one of the activities to consider.

“The demand for activity and for tourism-based activity on island; for new products, is going to increase even further,” she said.

Thompson said the activities must be varied. She noted that there was “tremendous scope” for gullies in Barbados to be used.

“There are trails and nature trails and tracks and caves which connect Barbados and people are looking for these kinds of green activities, and Barbadians too, want to hike around . . . There is another part of Barbados to be exploited, to be explored and to be protected, because we have to put in place regimes that will allow for the care and protection of these ecosystems once we put them into wider use, but put them into wider use we must,” she said.

“If we are going to continue as a tourism destination, and a mature one at that, we really have to find ways of continuing to create new interest, new activity and more importantly for the average Barbadian, new opportunity to earn from these various activities,” she said.

Thompson argued that the time had come for Barbados to have a 52-week calendar of activity that would allow for artisans, artistes and other entrepreneurs to earn more. She said this was going to become even more critical as the island seeks to offer an “online version of the tourism product”.

“The notion of community tourism villages, the notion of an online tourism product, the notion of a 52-week calendar of activities, the notion of new investments and new tourism product and tourism activities is all very important as we create opportunities for Barbadians to own a larger stake in the economic space of Barbados, and to create opportunities for revenue generation and for profit for Barbadians who have to cater to the tourists,” she said.
(MM)