Much is riding on the success of the island’s winter tourist season which officially began yesterday and runs until mid-April.
We are aware of the untold damage inflicted on the sector during the COVID-19 pandemic from mid-2020 into late 2021, before we began to witness a rebound in international tourism and travel.
In fact, at the beginning of 2020, the local economy was set for a major recovery after several years of contraction and anaemic economic activity, when the pandemic turned everything on its head.
As Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados Cleviston Haynes reported, the tourism sector was “buoyant and the prospect of substantial new private sector investments were on the horizon”.
The pandemic wiped out many of the economic and social gains and traumatized many households not only through illness and death, but financial ruin.
What the pandemic has taught us about the tourism sector is its undeniable interconnectedness with almost every other sector in the Barbados economy.
Essentially, if tourism fails, most else will follow. The massive 16 per cent contraction of the economy in 2020 was evidence that cannot be ignored.
Admittedly, this is a most vulnerable position for a small island, open economy. However, the reality is what it is.
There is truth in the need to diversify the Barbados economy, however, the pandemic has demonstrated that it is easier said than done.
Replacing a billion dollar industry in Barbados is a big ask.
What is important for us to note as the winter season gets going is the significant optimism that surrounds the sector’s resurgence. Barbados is one of the most tourism dependent nations in the region, and so, we desperately need positive results from the sector.
One of the early indicators that tourism is returning to pre-pandemic levels is the increasing number of cruise ships docking at the Bridgetown Port.
Approximately 6 000 passengers on three vessels docked in Bridgetown on the first day of the winter season is welcome news.
This is exactly what Barbados needs. More important, this is what small and micro businesses like taxi operators and the shop owners in establishments across the island such as Pelican Village require.
Having survived the pandemic, these small and microbusinesses have proven themselves resilient and deserving of the full benefits of this resurging sector.
The Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) has indicated that its members are buoyant, and bookings have given them reason to be optimistic.
Chairman of the BHTA Renee Coppin, a Barbadian female hotelier, said hotels were reporting “very, very strong” bookings.
“The attractions say their bookings so far are good. The restaurants also say they are seeing a lot more business and the small hotels have also indicated that their bookings are showing an improvement,” she also outlined.
At the macro level, Barbados’ fortunes are rising with the resurgence of tourism. Just 24 hours ago, regional credit rating agency Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services Limited (CariCRIS) pushed the economy’s outlook from “stable” to “positive”, while retaining the “CariBB” rating on the country’s credit worthiness.
CariCRIS identified the positive tourism performance as one the pillars underpinning the approval it gave on the economy. In addition to the successful completion of the International Monetary Fund’s four-year extended fund facility programme, the rating agency said the expected continued recovery of the vital tourism sector influenced the positive outlook and ratings.
As we discovered during the pandemic, the tourism and travel industry can be very fickle, even though its capacity to recover is also quite evident.
While the region is celebrating the sector’s growth in 2022, there is an admission that headwinds loom. CariCRIS in its ratings rationale pointed to potential disruptions in tourist markets as a result of inflation and recessionary conditions, that could threaten the sector’s growth prospects.
The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association is also sounding a word of warning that we should be cognizant of the potential for some derailment of the current tourism trajectory.
Apart from circumstances such as a possible recession in the United States and Europe, the headache of air connectivity and labour shortages in the sector due to the decision of many tourism workers not to return to the sector following the pandemic, are real challenges confronting the industry in Barbados and across the region.
