Officials pin hopes on tourism’s resurgence

As residents get ready for a full lockdown, stay-at-home weekend, key stakeholders in the tourism industry are appealing to everyone to obey the rules and continue to follow the protocols.

Eager to see a comeback for the once bustling tourism industry and a return to a greater level of normalcy, the top-brass of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association on Thursday issued a call to residents to obey the measures that have been put in place to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19.

In fact, Chief Executive Officer of the BHTA Senator Rudy Grant said he was eager to see an end to the number of infections and deaths as a result of the virus.

“We want to get through this with no more persons dying, and therefore I am appealing to all Barbadians to please, follow the protocols and do the right thing. Let us safeguard ourselves, our families, our neighbours and our friends so that we can ensure that there is a brighter and better tomorrow for all of us,” he said.

Borrowing the phrase “If you can’t do the time don’t do the crime”, Grant said he was very “disturbed” at recent videos that showed people engaging in drinking of alcoholic beverages irresponsibly.

Speaking with members of the media during one of the association’s regular updates, he said “I want to use this opportunity to appeal to Barbadians to adhere to the protocols. The truth is that we are all in this together. We have to be our brothers’ keeper. We have to ensure we function and that we act responsibly. COVID-19 is an enemy that we cannot see and there are persons who are asymptomatic who are positive.

“The truth is that we have to adhere to the protocols and we have to function in a manner as the Prime Minister has said, that we are all positive, and that we function in a way that we continue to wear our masks, that we social distance and continue to practice the best hygiene,” said Grant.

After being on a lockdown since February 3 this year, with nightly curfew imposed to try to control rising numbers of COVID-19 positive cases, local authorities have decided to tighten those measures, announcing that the island is to enter a full curfew starting from 7 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Monday.

Only frontline workers will be allowed to be out during this time.

BHTA chairman Geoffrey Roach also appealed to residents to follow the rules and look out for each other, warning that the rate at which the island bounces back would depend heavily on each individual’s behaviour.

“If this country is going to rebound, and we believe it will, but the rate at which we rebound from this is going to be very dependent on how each and every one of us reacts and responds individually,” said Roach.

“Follow the protocols. Tourism is the main contributor to the country’s foreign exchange earnings, to our Gross domestic product. The longer that this persists the longer that tourism will be in peril. We need to ensure that is not the case. We, Barbados as a country, need to get tourism back on even keel as quickly as possible,” he said.

At the end of last year the island saw a spike in COVID-19 positive cases and weeks later a declaration that there was community spread. To date, officials have been grappling with growing numbers in positive cases and a rapid increase in the number of deaths so far for the year.

Asked whether there were concerns regarding tourists breaking quarantine protocols, Roach told Barbados TODAY he believed anyone who breaks the rules should feel the full extent of the law.

“There are people who will always test the system and we have said publicly before that we support the action of the authorities. Where persons decide they don’t want to follow the protocols then yes, the full weight of the law must be brought to bear against them,” said Roach.

However, while acknowledging that “no system is going to be fool-proof” and there will always be people who will test the system, Roach said, “The bulk of the guests who have visited Barbados since we have been impacted with COVID have complied with the rules.” (MM)