Air links with Middle East, Africa on the horizon

Barbados could soon be establishing air links with the Middle East and Africa, Minister of Tourism and International Transport Lisa Cummins has revealed.

She also disclosed that her Ministry would be working closely with the Ministry of Agriculture to develop a bulk procurement system for the tourism sector.

Cummins mentioned the plans on Wednesday as she called on operators in the tourism industry to “go further” to form linkages with other sectors and look beyond simply increasing visitor numbers and spend.

“I have just opened the first round of negotiations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on a new Memorandum of Understanding on tourism sector cooperation, on air services from the Middle East to open up that new market,” disclosed the Tourism Minister as she addressed the annual general meeting of the Intimate Hotels of Barbados (IHB).

“We are pushing to close talks which have already been opened with Qatar. We have, in the Ministry at the macro level, a Middle East push into that market. On top of that, with new KLM airlift we are going to be pushing for new partnerships with Africa,” she added.

Cummins opted not to give details of the plans, but said she was dedicated to bringing more business and opportunities to the island so that hoteliers can form new partnerships and build on existing ones.

“I commit to going further to bring the business and airlift here. I need you to commit to going further in the accommodation sector to build those relationships with me. In the coming weeks, the Ministry will be hosting, in collaboration with our overseas market directors, a series of roundtables in the traditional markets to ensure that you are in those spaces meeting those partners and building those strong relationships, even beyond the UK. So, together we are going further with both our new and existing partners,” she explained.

She also noted that on Wednesday, the Ministry of Tourism and International Transport started discussions with insurance industry stakeholders “about redefining what business interruption coverage looks like”.

Pointing to the interruption in the tourism sector caused by Hurricane Elsa almost two weeks ago, the ashfall from the erupting La Soufriere volcano in St Vincent in April, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Cummins said it was critical that hoteliers have their businesses covered for all eventualities.

“So, on that basis, I have asked the industry to look at what is required for us to see new innovative insurance products that meet a more resilient sector where we need to go,” she said.

Cummins also disclosed that her Ministry has initiated discussions with the Ministry of Agriculture to see how tourism players could go about bulk procurement, pointing out that some farmers were currently unable to produce at maximum due to the lack of a vibrant tourism market.

Stressing that the COVID-19 pandemic was not going away in any hurry, Cummins called on hoteliers to “move past the initial fear and begin to live in a state of functional management of COVID”.

She further encouraged those in the sector to get vaccinated.

“In the midst of the pandemic there will be cases. Let us accept that, but we have to ensure we mitigate against that by considering getting vaccinated if we haven’t yet done so. We have to mitigate against that by encouraging people who work in the industry to do the same.

“We have visitors coming in and they have been tested prior to arrival and they are vaccinated and they are tested again on arrival, but they are interacting with persons who have neither been tested nor vaccinated. We have to do our part to keep ourselves, our communities and, for us in tourism, our visitors safe. We have to practise protectionist measures by wearing our masks, properly social distancing and cleaning our hands and handling masks properly,” contended Cummins.
(marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb)