MegaFest showcases industry to inspire future entrepreneurs

This year’s Tourism MegaFest Expo has been declared a successful showcase of the industry’s evolving landscape to a diverse audience. The annual event, held to highlight career and business opportunities in Barbados’ economic driver, attracted close to 40 exhibitors and a steady stream of visitors, including hundreds of students from public and private secondary schools.

Chief Product Development Officer at Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI), Marsha Alleyne, told Barbados TODAY that the expo’s success lay not just in the numbers in attendance but in its ability to connect with the next generation of Barbadians, exposing them to a world of possibilities within the tourism industry.

“I am extremely happy with the response,” she said. “We have close to 40 exhibitors in the space, and even more important than that, we have a steady stream of school-age children, the general public.”

However, the expo was more than just a promotional event; it served as a key platform to introduce young people to tourism as a potential career and entrepreneurial venture. “Yes, we’re focusing on careers in hospitality,” said Alleyne, “but even more importantly, we’re also focusing on entrepreneurial opportunities.”

Many of the young visitors were keen to learn how they could create their own businesses within the tourism industry.

“A lot of these kids are looking at ways they can create a space for themselves to own their own business within the hospitality space,” the BTMI official said. She explained that MegaFest’s emphasis on entrepreneurship was essential in shifting the narrative around tourism, helping young people see it as more than just traditional service jobs.

A notable feature of this year’s event was the integration of technology to capture the imagination of young attendees. Virtual reality (VR) experiences offered a unique and immersive way for students to engage with the industry.

Despite the growing focus on entrepreneurship and technology, some critics argue that Barbados’ tourism product has remained static over the years, with little change in core offerings. Alleyne pushed back against this perception, suggesting that consistency can be a strength, especially in a market that relies heavily on repeat visitors.

“I think there is an opportunity for us to actually do the same thing because people who come to Barbados also want to see a product that doesn’t change from year to year,” she explained, noting that 46 per cent of guests return to Barbados year after year. “We have the highest repeat guests in the Caribbean, and they come back because there’s a level of reliability to Destination Barbados. So I would not say that doing the same thing is necessarily a bad thing.”

While acknowledging the importance of consistency, Alleyne highlighted the innovation that has emerged in Barbadian tourism, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. She pointed to the rise of small businesses and new entrepreneurial ventures as signs of a sector that is evolving in response to changing circumstances.

“There has been some innovation, especially in terms of the spaces from a technological perspective, and a lot of the entrepreneurs we’re seeing today, a lot of them came out of COVID,” Alleyne said. One such example is Native Caribbean, a local business that found its footing during the pandemic.

Barbados, she continued, has also positioned itself as a culinary capital of the Caribbean, with a diverse array of food offerings.

“We’ve seen a lot more food and culinary eateries evolve out of the COVID period,” Alleyne noted. “Barbados has been able to platform itself as a culinary capital of the Caribbean, not because we have only five-star, five-diamond restaurants, but because we have restaurants that span the entire globe, from street eats to haute cuisine.

“You can go on any Friday, Saturday, or Thursday night and find a variety of culinary fare that I think is unprecedented in the Caribbean.”

Alleyne emphasised the importance of youth engagement, calling for a more concerted effort to educate young Barbadians about the tourism industry, its history, and its opportunities.

“What the MegaFest has exposed is that a lot of our children are still in the dark when it comes to our history and heritage,” she said. “That’s a big selling point of our tourism industry. I know people come for the sea and the sand, but they also come for the heritage and history of Barbados.”

Alleyne told Barbados TODAY that she envisions a future where tourism education starts much earlier in schools, giving students the tools they need to understand the industry’s significance to the island’s economy and culture.

“We’ve developed a programme specifically for our primary school children,” she revealed, indicating that efforts to engage younger students are already in motion.

Alleyne believes these educational initiatives will help young people see tourism not only as a viable career but as a way to engage with and contribute to their island’s rich cultural heritage.

She stressed the broader mission of the event: “We need to start earlier in helping our children understand the value of tourism, not just as a job but as a critical part of our economy and culture.”