BHTA promises tourism players a renewed focus

Operators in the local hospitality and tourism sector are being assured that Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) officials will continue to up the ante when it comes to lobbying the Government on a range of outstanding matters.

In addition, Chief Executive Officer of the BHTA, former Senator Rudy Grant, promised that the umbrella organisation will up its marketing game to woo even more visitors to the island as countries continue to fully open up to international travel.

“We had the UK roadshow which took place from November 4 to 10 and very much in the same way that we had the comments with respect to the US roadshow, a number of persons did indicate that they were very happy that we were back in person again,” he said.

“These roadshows are extremely important, particularly at a time when we are seeing more tourism destinations coming into the market. I think that we need to ensure that we get back to basics as we look at new marketing and market opportunities,” said Grant.

He said the BHTA would be deepening its relationship with the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI) as they collaborate more on various marketing efforts.

Grant, who was addressing the recent BHTA fourth quarterly general meeting, disclosed that at the BHTA board of directors meeting in November, it was agreed that greater lobbying of Government was needed on behalf of members.

He said of particular note was the need for the BHTA to persuade the Government of the need for more tourism enterprises, other than hotels, to be able to fully access duty-free items as outlined under the Tourism Development Act (TDA) and the Tourism Development (Amendment) Act (TDAA).

“As the global tourism industry reopens, we need to ensure that our industry is competitive. Competitiveness is a critical component. So the waiver of the taxes and duties under the TDA and TDAA for Barbadian operating enterprises to allow them to offer lower prices is very important,” said Grant.

“That is something that we will continue to lobby for and we are discussing the access of concessions for other tourism enterprises as well, such as car rental operators,” he assured. Pointing out that discussions with the government “usually take some time”, Grant urged BHTA members to exercise more patience.

He said the organisation will also continue to have discussions with the Government on allowing more tourism industry businesses to get in on the Barbados Employment and Sustainable Transformation (BEST) programme.

The $300 million BEST scheme, which was implemented towards the end of September 2020, was open mainly to tourism-related entities, allowing them to receive grant funding to rehire a minimum of 60 per cent of their workforce on 80 per cent of their normal salary for at least one year.

They are also able to receive an investment of up to $2 million in the form of preference shares, to fund projects to upgrade and transform their facilities.

When it started, the scheme catered mainly to accommodation facilities in the tourism industry, but with continued lobbying from the BHTA and a less than ideal take-up, it has since seen some adjustments, which included $30 million being made available as loans to tourism entities that do not qualify or wish to participate in the programme otherwise.

marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb