#BTEditorial – Beyond the hype, we need accountability in tourism

It was heartening to learn of Virgin Atlantic’s plans to utilise Barbados as a hub for expanding its Caribbean operations. In this 85th anniversary year of passenger air travel to Barbados, this welcome news coincided with the celebration of World Tourism Day last week, with Virgin Atlantic’s Chief Commercial Officer Juha Jarvinen delivering the announcement. 

He said: “We have been proudly rebuilding our Barbados network since the COVID period and we are now serving up to 15 weekly services – 11 to Heathrow and four a week to Manchester. We have now started to sell the local sectors to St Vincent and Grenada, which is another example of the plan that we have to build Barbados as our regional hub. Since June, we have been able to sell the local sectors, which will further improve the offering that we have as Virgin Atlantic, but especially to boost Barbados’ economy.”

This positive development followed closely on the heels of the successful launch of a new direct service by Cayman Airways, set to commence next month. Shelly Williams, Chair of the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI), who travelled to the Cayman Islands for the occasion, stated: “As we open the doors to more travellers from the Cayman Islands, we also open the doors to new opportunities for our people, our businesses, and our economies. So, let us toast to a new era of partnership, friendship, and prosperity between Barbados and the Cayman Islands. May this direct service and the bonds we create tonight be a symbol of our enduring commitment to each other.”

Nonetheless, it is important to temper our celebration of these new and additional airlift connections to and from Barbados. While we applaud these recent announcements, it is not the first time we’ve been in this situation. In the past, we’ve witnessed inaugural flights that promised to boost airlift, we toasted and celebrated, only for these services to disappear without a trace. A notable example was in March 2021 when we welcomed a historic KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flight from Amsterdam. Despite the fanfare and promises of flights three times weekly until March 2022, this service is no longer in operation. What happened to this once-touted direct connection to Amsterdam, The Netherlands?

Similarly, in August of the same year, we were excited about the prospect of direct flights to Scotland. Minister Cummins announced, “Barbados is set to become Scotland’s only direct route to the Caribbean come December 5, as Virgin Atlantic launches a service from Edinburgh to Bridgetown.” However, we must ask: What became of this direct service from Edinburgh, Scotland?

While we rightly celebrate the formation and announcement of these partnerships, it is essential to consider what follows. What campaigns and initiatives are implemented to ensure that groundwork is laid in the respective territories? How do we keep travellers from these countries engaged with Barbados? We cannot rest on our laurels, especially in non-traditional markets. While we’ve made strides in the UK and US markets, we cannot solely rely on them for our promotional efforts. We need targeted messaging to penetrate untapped markets. Therefore, losing airlift to destinations like Amsterdam should be a cause for concern.

We often claim that tourism is our business, yet when it comes to transparency and accountability in how taxpayers’ money is spent in the sector – which is crucial for all – information is scant. This issue was central to the Chefette in New York initiative earlier this year, as well as when a government delegation and numerous Bajan artists participated in the Labour Day parade in New York recently. 

Questions have also arisen about the upcoming Barbados Food & Rum Festival, originally intended to showcase the country’s culinary excellence. Some on social media have lamented that the festival now places more emphasis on entertainment than culinary cuisine, even featuring international acts. Shouldn’t a national festival aimed at attracting tourists to our island prioritise showcasing authentic Bajan culture? If entertainment from outside the region is included, shouldn’t it involve other Caribbean acts?

We need to examine how we market the Barbados tourism product and, more crucially, assess the effectiveness of our current initiatives. Are the existing ones yielding the desired results, or should we explore new strategies? We must avoid the pattern of pouring millions of dollars into a sector vital to our economy without the necessary accountability.