As visitor numbers dwindle in the wake of COVID-19, Barbadians should now become their own country’s tourists, Minister of Tourism Kerrie Symmonds has suggested, declaring that now is the time to help save an industry that has done much for them.
In a impassioned plea in the House of Assembly on Monday during its sitting on the Appropriations Bill, Symmonds told the chamber that in the wake of the COVID-19 disease, Barbadians must now embrace their country, stay home and spend money with businesses.
Symmonds said: “This country has to realise that this is not the summer to get on a plane and go to Disney World because Disney shutdown.
“This country needs to understand that this is not the summer to go to New York City and shop at Macys because there is a greater risk there and here.
“This country needs to understand that there are hotels in Barbados and experiences in St John and in St Thomas and in St Joseph which are of a high quality sought after by Europeans, Canadians and Americans and that we in Barbados can help keep ourselves employed by doing a little bit of staycation and linking it to the attractions of Barbados.
“That Barbados can do this is within all possibility but what we need to do is to go there as a team.
“The country as a whole must join hand in hand as we attempt now to provide the necessary support for the thousands upon thousands of people who are working in hospitality in Barbados.
“Those who have been able to position this country to be one of the most competitive in the marketplace internationally and whom we must now protect and reinforce so that they emerge in a better position than they were when they went into this.”
Quoting from the Tourism Development Act, the Minister said that while there were provisions in the law for both small and large hoteliers to use down-time to renovate and refurbish, he also wants money to be invested in the workers as well.
He continued: “There is a developmental opportunity where we can use this down time for constructive purposes. What are we doing about training?
“Would it not be a good thing… to train our workers during this down time? It need not be about layoffs people can be kept at work.
“The Tourism Development Act helps in that regard because when you build out that type of development you are entitled to get a rebate back on it once you can satisfy the Minister of Tourism that it is a worthwhile product.
“It is time for businesses to get themselves environmentally certified and therefore emerge more competitive than they were before the outbreak came about.
“So that you emerge from the difficulty in a more robust and nibble position to get at the top of the food chain once again.”
Symmonds also encouraged Bajans to patronise other Caricom territories during this coronavirus pandemic.
He said: “The Minister of Tourism is standing up in Parliament telling the country that this is where they should go.
“I am saying as well… that Caricom travel is another option because as we look at Caricom, don’t mind that there are one or two instances of cases.
“The reality is the risk is far less in CARICOM than it is other parts of the world. We have to keep our hotel and our attractions open for business.
The Tourism Minister said he was not interested in a “doomsday prediction” but was confident that out of the cloud must be found a silver lining .
“This is the time for us to invest in the sector that has carried Barbados for all these years and if we fail at this time, then we fail the whole country. I don’t think that failure is an option,” Symmonds said.
