Industry on the way back

Tourism officials are spotting some light at the end of the tunnel as they report continued improved performance after more than a year of little to no business due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chairman of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) Renée Coppin said after a dismal 2021 winter period, things were beginning to look brighter.

Last year, the island recorded some 143,509 long-stay arrivals and 96,372 cruise passengers.

“This is where the good news starts, and the lights begin to glimmer. December 2021 long stay arrivals were 35,843. That number is 25 per cent of all long stay arrivals for that year and while it is 50 per cent down on 2019 arrivals, it is almost a 100 per cent improvement on 2020,” said Coppin.

“The cruise arrivals for December 2021 were 65,910 or 68 per cent of cruise arrivals for that entire year, a significant bellwether for a resurgence of the almost decimated cruise industry. That number also represents a percentage increase equivalent to its numeric value from the previous year’s base of zero,” she said..

In 2020, the island welcomed 207,378 long-stay arrivals and 338,386 cruise passengers. Last year, there were 143,509 long-stay arrivals and 96,372 cruise passengers.

Coppin indicated that 77 per cent of the 2020 long-stay arrivals were recorded in the two-and-a-half-months before the Barbados lock-down.

“I also want you to appreciate that 100 per cent of the cruise passengers arrived during that period.”.

In 2019, Barbados welcomed a record 714,648 long stay arrivals and 853,200 cruise passengers.

Coppin said restaurants and attractions have already been reporting improved performance since December last year and she was pleased that this had continued into 2022.

“For hotels, while we ended the year 2021 with an average occupancy of 37.3 per cent, only a few percentage points above the 31.6 per cent we averaged in 2021, December certainly made us hopeful,” she reported.

“An average occupancy of 66 per cent, followed by occupancy in January 2022 of 68 per cent may be the sign that we are coming to grips with this pandemic in ways that will allow a vast number of us to sustain our livelihoods and rebuild our businesses,” said Coppin who was  addressing the BHTA’s first quarterly general meeting for 2022, held virtually.

She said despite the positive signs, tourism officials knew they still had a lot of work to do in order to bring the sector back to its glory days.

“With average projected occupancies of 62, 65 and 45 per cent for the remaining months of the winter season – February, March, and April respectively, we know we still have work to do. With the summer months May and June, for which we have sight, projecting to be 37 per cent and 30 per cent respectively, we have already commenced talks with our partners at the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI), as to the need to shore up summer and we eagerly await their summer programme,” said Coppin.

The tourism executive lauded workers in the sector for their hard work and rising to every challenge.

She recalled “Fresh from finally being able to return to some semblance of work after lockdown in 2020 we discovered a new set of skills as we had to deal with angry and sometimes volatile guests in quarantine.”

Coppin said they were again tested in 2021 with a number of natural disaster events.
(MM)