Hotels that lose their status as designated quarantine facilities could experience a severe blow to their already almost non-existent bottom line.
Moreover, Chairman of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) Geoffrey Roach said, there was the possibility of added pressure to find space to house travellers who are required to go into quarantine, if hotels are delisted as certified quarantine facilities.
His comments come on the heels of the recent announcement by Government that, come January 5, 2021, Sandals Barbados Resort will be delisted as a designated quarantine hotel.
They also followed a statement that “due to limited capacity, the Government quarantine facilities which are provided free of cost will only be available for Barbadians and permanent residents arriving in Barbados”.
While health officials have so far only announced the delisting of Sandals, Barbados TODAY understands that other accommodation facilities were under investigation, including at least one south coast property.
While Roach has already expressed support for any penalties imposed on hotels that are found to be in breach of the protocols, he told Barbados TODAY there could be several implications when they are no longer able to house guests under quarantine.
“Should any hotel that is designated as a quarantine hotel lose that designation, what it would mean is that their revenue would be impacted through loss of their ability to host those guests. That is particularly important at a time when there are low numbers on island. Any loss of such revenues puts added pressure on the accommodation member to service the costs of its operations,” the BHTA chairman said.
“What we would expect, however, in the event that such should be the case, then the health authorities, having identified what any breaches are, would allow for some time for the member to remedy the breach, so that the member has the opportunity to be recertified as a quarantine hotel.
“Having said that, however, we would want to advise all of our members to adhere to the policies and protocols to ensure that there is no need by the health authorities to remove hotels from the quarantine list due to an infraction because what that effectively does as well is put pressure on the accommodation stock that is categorised for quarantine purposes,” Roach added.
There are currently over 50 hotels, more than 30 apartments, six guest houses, and dozens of villas listed as approved quarantine facilities.
Some properties are strictly for quarantining purposes while others offer both quarantine and ordinary accommodation, with the two categories of guests separated.
Roach, who had already indicated that the BHTA would not be challenging Government’s decision regarding the rules – as they were within the Ministry of Health’s purview – also had a stern warning for visitors who wanted to flout the protocols.
“We would like to advise all visitors to adhere to the protocols for quarantine, because certainly we would not want to have any added pressure on the tourism industry placed on us by persons who believe that they deemed Barbados to be a safe destination, come into the country and not adhere to the protocols that are in place. What that effectively does is put our teams at risk, and it puts those who come in and adhere to the protocols in a compromised position,” he said.
“I must also add that such behaviour by any visitors also puts the local population at risk, and that is something we do not want because we want to ensure that Barbados remains a safe place for our locals more so than anything else,” he added.
The BHTA head called on Barbadians to be on the lookout for those who were not obeying the rules, as he stressed that it was important for everyone to play their part to keep Barbados a safe destination.
“To keep it that way, we would want to encourage all locals – if you see something suspicious or questionable, we urge you to say something,” Roach said.
(marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb)
