The Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) believes Government got it right with its protocols for travelling amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Newly elected chairman Geoffrey Roach said he was also in agreement that this was the right time to reopen the island’s borders to visitors.
Speaking to Barbados TODAY at the opening of the Worthing Food Court this evening, Roach said “smart decisions” had been made by Government.
Last Friday, Prime Minister Mia Mottley and Minister of Tourism Kerrie Symmonds announced new protocols for visitors coming to the island. These include the requirement of a COVID-19 PCR Antigen test 72 hours before travel to Barbados, the conversion of the Concorde Experience at the Grantley Adams International Airport to a testing facility, and the use of several hotels on the island as satellite testing facilities.
“In terms of commercial flights returning to Barbados, certainly the Barbados economy is at a point where we need to have international travel returning, because tourism really is the mainstay of our economy as we all know,” Roach said.
“Of course, given that we are in the COVID environment we have to ensure that we put certain things in place – and this is we, nationally – to ensure that we minimise the risk of COVID being reintroduced to the country, or even if there are cases, to control the spread of it.
“I know there’s a lot of work that has been undertaken with regard to continued protocols, [and] different players have been consulted. Labour has been consulted, the tourism industry has been consulted, the Ministry of Health, of course, and I think certainly considering all of those different stakeholders, the plan that I am aware of at this point is drawn up to ensure that Barbados takes the necessary steps, in terms of the type of protocols we implement to safeguard first and foremost our locals, but also anyone who chooses to visit Barbados,” the BHTA chairman added.
Roach contended that with a wide range of stakeholders having contributed to the development of the protocols, most scenarios had been addressed.
“We are still awaiting the final protocols, because there still are some tweaks to be made and we are hopeful they should be out in a very short space of time. I’ve had the opportunity to sit with the stakeholders and have a discussion on these protocols and I believe a lot of sensible decisions have been made,” he said.
“This is a health crisis and the Ministry of Health has to have final sign off on these. I believe based on what I have seen so far from the Ministry of Health is that they have done some very good work and I have no doubt they will continue to do so and take the best interest of Barbados at heart.”
Roach pointed out that if the COVID-19 situation got out of hand once commercial flights to Barbados resumed, the Prime Minister had already given the assurance that Government was willing to do whatever was necessary to protect its people.
“I’m pretty comfortable that taking all of the discussions into consideration, that we will have protocols that will put us in a pretty safe position; but as you know we can always pull the brakes and put it in reverse,” the BHTA official said.
Roach said the communication of the protocols was also important as it would allow visitors to know what was expected of them locally and internationally.
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“Last Friday, Prime Minister Mia Mottley and Minister of Tourism Kerrie Symmonds announced new protocols for visitors coming to the island. These include the requirement of a COVID-19 PCR Antigen test 72 hours before travel to Barbados, ”
Is this PCR Antigen test the rapid test that has the higher false negatives, or the RT-PCR test which is more accurate, but which is so backlogged in the U.S. that results can take up to 8 days for a result?
Is this the same test the T’dad student took before leaving B’dos on June 15? The same one she took on arrival in T’dad? Now tested positive after two weeks quarantine.
This incident proves T’dad was right, the tests are not safe.
If this were a visitor from the U.S. coming into B’dos on next week’s flight, there would be no quarantine, just two weeks of socializing with other guests, hotel staff, restaurant clients and staff (can’t wear masks when eating and drinking), supermarket, travelling on transport, going to the beach.
Two weeks of asymptomatic spread of the virus all over our island. Even now the UWI student has no symptoms of the virus. The visitor could leave our shores and we never know she was sick.
Miss Mottley, Mr. Grant, my life is not a poker chip for you to toss into the pot to win your Tourism Development Jackpot that you gambled my money on in October 2018 and lost, now you want to add my life to your stake in the game, without my permission?
I am not a sheep to be led to the slaughter without protest. BARP is muzzled. The BWU bites their tongue. Mr. Denny only cares when the life is an American Black man, Bajans don’t count. Mr. Trotman makes a big noise over 8% cut in money, but sacrificing lives is OK?
If the CCJ determines that the arbitrary decision by Gov’t to risk deaths of its citizens without any consultation is unconstitutional, you can’t do what Christ did with Lazarus and “pay back” the breath that you took away from us.
We deserve a say in this.
I have lived Tourism since 1970 when my Mother took a job with a large hospitality group. I saw downturns in 1974, 1981/83, 1991/94, 2001, 2008/11. If the hotels’ Accountants did not warn them to set aside a Business Continuity Reserve for periods when travel drops off, they deserve to go bankrupt. They cannot take my life and that of others to compensate for their greed in taking all the profits out and leaving the business with no lifeline in hard times.
The Gov’t (30/0 or not) does not have the right to gamble with our lives in this way, especially now we see the result of premature re-opening in the U.S. because of right-wing Republican prioritization of the economy over People’s lives.