Big blow

Hopes for a rebound in tourism arrivals this summer have been dealt a blow with airlift out of the United Kingdom (UK), one of the island’s main source markets, facing significant cuts.

The London-based Heathrow Airport, which is struggling to cope with high demand and a lack of resources, has asked airlines to put a hold on selling tickets for travel this summer as it limits passengers to 100 000 a day from July 12 to September 11.

In response to the development, Chairman of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) Renee Coppin expressed concern that emerging global trends continue to threaten the recovery of the industry and dampen the pent-up demand for travel.

Noting that the island is already faced with the challenge of significantly reduced airlift across all markets, which translates to lower arrival numbers, occupancy levels, and business across the entire tourism sector, she told Barbados TODAY: “Our reports indicate that there will be 18 523 [fewer] inbound seats from the UK market for the remaining summer months July to October 2022, when compared to our last normal year of operation in 2019.

“This is, therefore, a double-edged sword to battle, with flights on one end being very expensive and capacity on the other end greatly reduced compared to the pre-COVID-19 period,” Coppin further lamented.

She said recovery in the airlift situation out of the UK is not expected until November 2022 when Barbados should begin to see increases in flights – just over 6 000 additional seats for November and December 2022, relative to the same period in 2019.

Meantime, the BHTA chairman indicated that cabin crew and airline shortages in the UK have so far had a minimal impact on Barbados since airlines are mainly cancelling domestic and short-haul flights.

“International flights continue to operate as normal for the most part. There have been issues with luggage being left behind and, clearly, we will have to continue to monitor this dynamic and evolving situation,” she said.

Coppin added that the United States has been Barbados’ number one source market for summer 2022, even though there have been some cancellations out of that market due to staffing shortages.

While Barbados has had 38 264 more seats from the US market from May to October this year than it had out of the UK, Coppin said the country also lost significant airlift from the US market when compared to 2019.

“We in tourism need to be focused on ensuring that we are not in the same position in 2023. This year has revealed several worrisome trends which we need to get ahead of.

“We cannot afford as a destination to lose any more airlift from our vital source markets. There will continue to be factors beyond our control in the global economy, but we must ensure that we remain focused on negotiating and maintaining critical relationships to ensure that we deliver vital airlift capacity to our shores,” she said.

Heathrow Airport’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) John Holland-Kaye, in announcing the two-month cap on air traffic, explained in an open letter to passengers that as the number of departing passengers exceeded 100 000 a day over the past few weeks, the airport started to see periods when service dropped to unacceptable levels.

He said workers were going above and beyond to get as many passengers out as possible but noted that “we cannot put them at risk for their own safety and well-being”.

anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb