The scheme put in place to help tourism business maintain jobs and upgrade their facilities will now undergo periodic reviews, tourism officials said Wednesday.
But the officials remained tight-lipped about the changes that are on the horizon for the aid programme, known as the Barbados Employment and Sustainable Transformation (BEST).
Chairman of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) Geoffrey Roach said the overall proposed changes to the BEST plan were “still a work in progress” since they were yet to be presented to Parliament for approval.
But he revealed that “one of the things we have been able to obtain within the programme is a review period”.
Roach said: “There is the option there for a review after a certain timeframe. So that if there are items that we recognize have changed in the environment or have not changed then there is the opportunity for us to sit with the relevant agencies and agree how the programme will be structured after that review period.”
Though stating that he had come to the realization that no matter what some tourism operators will not sign on to the programme, Roach said he was encouraging everyone in the industry to still examine their situation and let the BHTA know whether the programme would work or not.
“Please let us know because it is only on that information that we can continue to make representation on your behalf whether it may be to seek further change to the programme or to seek alternative options for your survival,” he said.
Under the BEST programme, which was introduced at the end of September last year, tourism-related entities are able to receive grant funding to re-hire their workers on 80 per cent of their normal salary for up to two years, should the need arise.
They are also able to receive an investment of up to $2 million in the form of preference shares, to fund projects in upgrading and transforming their facility.
“The BEST programme is intended to be a lifeline for the industry to allow us to survive until tourism recovers. While the programme does not provide a perfect solution for each and every enterprise, the efforts that have been put into negotiating on behalf of the industry has seen some refinements to the programme to make it significantly more appealing to the BHTA membership at large,” said Roach, as he continued to encourage members to sign on.
BHTA Chief Executive Officer Senator Rudy Grant disclosed that as of March 5, there were some 54 applications to the Enterprise Growth Fund, the agency responsible for administering the BEST programme.
Those applications are valued at $148,162,867, and so far 43 of them have been approved, with a total payout of $10,376126, he said. (MM)
