BHTA ramps up Spanish training to target Latin America, Spain

As Latin American visitor arrivals to Barbados continue to grow, the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) said Wednesday it is stepping up efforts to equip hospitality workers with Spanish-language skills under a new regional training and exchange initiative.

BHTA Chief Executive Officer Ryan Forde announced the initiative on Wednesday during the Association’s fourth quarterly general meeting at Sandals Royal Barbados, held under the theme One Caribbean: Driving Growth Through Unity and Purpose.

The BHTA has already begun discussions on a memorandum of understanding with tourism and educational partners across Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Panama and Venezuela, Forde revealed. The move, he said, is part of a wider strategic push to strengthen Barbados’ competitiveness by equipping hospitality workers with the language skills needed to engage non-English-speaking visitors.

“While chairing the European Task Force for the BTMI and being privy to data on the growth of the Latin American market, on behalf of the BHTA, I have begun the process of discussing an MOU with our Latin American partners,” he said.

The BHTA first introduced Spanish-language classes for members two-and-a-half years ago through the Venezuelan Institute. While participation was steady, Forde acknowledged that the association needed a more accessible model if it wanted to drive meaningful change across the industry.

“In the initial stages it went well but small. However, we realised that for us to have real change in terms of our industry being able to conduct business in Spanish, we needed to take the classes to our members.”

Under the new plan, the BHTA will roll out on-property language training, delivered in clusters and implemented over three phases across the summer season for the next three years. The programme will be developed jointly with the association’s HR committee and key Latin American partners, culminating in a new exchange programme to place Barbadian hospitality workers in Spanish-speaking destinations for additional experience and training.

“My team and I are in close discussions with our Latin American stakeholders to formalise a strategy and implementation curriculum… that will introduce on-property language courses… and culminate with an exchange programme in Latin America,” Forde noted.

He stressed that the push is backed by compelling data, as visitor arrivals from both Europe and Latin America continue to climb with relatively little heavy marketing investment in those regions.

Spain is the sixth most inbound country, with 1 500 visitors per year, which is six per cent of European traffic. Latin America now produces around 13 000 visitors to Barbados per year.

Despite having no agents in Spain, Forde said the island is experiencing “tremendous organic growth” from that market.

Latin America continues to expand its footprint, supported by improved airlift as Panama’s COPA Airlines has now increased service to five flights weekly, up from just one a week in 2018.
The BHTA is also optimistic about deepening ties with Venezuela.

“Conviasa out of Venezuela, we’re hopeful that we’ll see a daily flight by 2027 and make inroads into more direct routes in Latin America,” he added.

Forde said strengthening language capacity in the workforce is essential if Barbados wants to fully capitalise on these trends and diversify its visitor base.

(SB)