Tourism’s uncomfortable truth

Barbados must face the “uncomfortable and unsettling reality” of seasonal layoffs in the tourism sector, a key industry player said on Thursday. 

Despite its allure as a tropical paradise, the island continues to struggle to maintain year-round occupancy rates high enough to prevent a significant number of hospitality businesses from shutting down during the off-season. 

The latest example of this reality were announced plans by Sandals to lay off approximately 200 employees – a decision which has led to an exchange between the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) and the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU).

The association’s new chairman Javon Griffith described Sandals’ plans as a typical seasonal pattern, leading the BWU to issue a sharp rebuke.

However, at the BHTA’s third quarter press briefing in Belleville, CEO Ryan Forde acknowledged that while annual layoffs in the industry have long been a sensitive topic, the island simply lacks sufficient year-round events to sustain high occupancy levels throughout the year.

“The country’s tourism industry has evolved from decades ago; however it is still not a 12-month, high occupancy sector as yet. But . . . the more we diversify our offering and target different markets and demographics then we are able to fill those gaps of low occupancy period and aim to not have to reduce hours or reduced staffing levels due to the downturn of business,” Forde told the media. “It is an uncomfortable and unsettling reality that all stakeholders are putting their efforts towards changing.”

After the BWU General Secretary, Toni Moore, disclosed news of the layoffs last week, the BHTA’s Chairman Javon Griffith said the redundancies reflected the annual downturn in business.

“That is pretty standard across the industry at this time of year,” Griffith explained. He added that many hotels typically scaled back operations after Crop Over, often closing for renovations during September when there was a significant decrease in business and that workers were usually laid off if the closure period exceeded their holiday entitlement.

Sandals has not commented publicly on the layoffs, and Forde told journalists that while the company had discussed its plans with the Labour Department, it had not advised the BHTA. Therefore, he said, the association did not have enough information to comment on the matter in detail.  

However, Griffith, reiterated the association’s commitment to collaborating with the BWU in negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement for tourism workers. While only 22 of the BHTA’s over 80 hotel members have signed the agreement thus far, Griffith stated that the most critical elements, such as wage increases, have traditionally been adopted by industry members. In fact, he said some properties had already granted these increases to their teams due to the protracted nature of the negotiations. 

(SB)