Prime Minister Mia Mottley has brushed aside concerns that the island’s main tourism marketing agency has employed a non-national to head its operation.
Last Thursday, a month after Barbados TODAY broke news that German-Canadian tourism executive Jens Thraenhart had been given the nod to become the new Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI), the agency confirmed the development.
Thraenhart’s appointment becomes effective on November 1, 2021.
However, since that confirmation, several critics including former Minister of Tourism Richard Sealy have questioned why a Barbadian or Caribbean national was not selected to fill the position.
Speaking at the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) business forum and luncheon at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre on Wednesday, Mottley dismissed the concern.
In fact, she suggested that Thraenhart, who has more than 26 years of experience working in the tourism industry, would be able to open doors for Barbados that perhaps many others would be unable to.
“I want to address this issue of the CEO of the BTMI who I believe is arriving in the country today. I want us to give him a warm welcome and why? When we came to this point a few months ago, I didn’t hide it, I indicated to the country that Barbados would do a global search because we could not afford anything other than the very best to lead our tourism sector in the middle of a crisis. This government stands by that decision,” said Mottley.
“The extent to which we hope we will be able to build capacity is a different matter and we certainly are intent on doing so . . . But we have to recognise now that what is needed is not only somebody who has capacity, but somebody who has network too, because who will get the doors open quicker for you now in the middle of a crisis when everybody is asking for a door to be open? It is the people who know people and who can leverage that,” she said.
Mottley said, “We have to think outside of the box and the fact that the gentleman who has been appointed has worked in Canada, has worked in Asia, has worked across multiple areas, that is exactly what we need in this country now.”
She cried shame on those who were against the hiring of a non-Barbadian, indicating “since when do we, who export more people to the world in the last 150 years than most in this region, now have a problem with people coming here? That cannot be the Barbados that the opposition wants us to build.”
According to the BTMI, Thraenhart emerged as the “top” candidate from an initial pool of 178 candidates of qualified professionals from around the world. (MM)
