Despite Barbados reopening its borders just over two months ago, the island’s tourism industry is still a long way from recovery, Prime Minister Mia Mottley suggested as she told an international audience that the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic are far greater than just the viral illness itself.
Mottley, a guest on CNN International’s First Move with Julia Chatterley this morning said: “While we have had some limited resumption since the middle of July, it is really not anywhere near what we are accustomed to – probably about 15 per cent of our normal load – so it has been extremely difficult for us and all of the travel-dependent countries in the region.”
She however stressed that Barbados and the region have accepted that they must live with the viral illness and have therefore implemented appropriate measures to protect citizens and visitors.
In Barbados’ case, Mottley noted that protocols are revised every two weeks given the changing nature of the virus and, so far, they have been working well.
“Most of our cases, almost 90 per cent, have been imported. I would say that every four or five days we may get one or two or three imported cases but no more than about ten, on average, in a week,” the Prime Minister said.
“We know the virus is across the global community. Barbados is a member of the global community and we can’t isolate ourselves from it. We are an island. It’s the same with all of the islands. We face the same reality and we have to learn to live with it and our people, quite frankly for the most part, have been very responsive; for the most part, very responsible.”
Mottley noted that with short term tourism unlikely to rebound any time soon, Government introduced the Barbados Welcome Stamp initiative which offers visitors the opportunity to live on the island and work remotely for up to a year.
Government officials reported last week that the initiative has attracted much interest.
Home Affairs Minister Wilfred Abrahams said 1 079 applications have been processed since the programme was introduced on July 18. (SD)
