The Minister of Tourism has invited Barbadians to contribute to a tourism master plan that he’s coordinating.
Here’s my two cents’ worth:
• First, figure out what is the carrying capacity of the island for visitors; work backwards and plan for it so that our resources can cope. Barbados is a tiny, fragile environment; we can’t simply let tourism develop unplanned.
• Never forget that Barbados is primarily an upmarket destination. Forgetting this in the quest for volume will inevitably destroy our tourism.
• In keeping with the foregoing, permit one well-regulated upmarket casino on the West Coast. This should have a reputation as one of the luxury casinos of the world. Forty per cent of shares in the casino should be offered to the Barbadian public.
• Find out if there is a positive correlation between the marketing and promotion done by the Barbados Tourism Authority (BTA) and the number of visitors to the island. If there isn’t one, cut back on promotion. Spend the money on something else.
• The BTA no longer needs costly overseas offices. Close them down.
• Barbados is not and never should be Disney World or any other fantasy holiday. The appeal and strength of Barbadian tourism is its integration into the life of all Barbadians. Visitors love us for what we are; there’s no need to create a fantasy. So don’t allow enclave tourism to get a hold. Keep all-inclusives to a minimum. It’s much easier, more tempting and probably more profitable to create enclave tourism and banish the ‘troublesome natives’ from the tourism plant. In Barbados that’s a recipe for disaster. Let’s take the difficult road; it’s more ethical and more profitable in the long run to plan and practise “open” tourism that involves and integrates as many Barbadians as possible into the tourism industry.
• Make sure every beach is both legally and practically open to Barbadians.
• Our unique environment is at the heart of our appeal as a destination. The spoiling of our environment (not just the beaches) will destroy tourism (and destroy Barbados for our children). Already the West Coast is beginning to look tacky. This eventually will have to be remedied at considerable cost. Please protect the East Coast from Pico Tenerife to Ragged Point. Besides, this area has loads of potential for ecological and rural tourism: a scenic park along the top of Hackleton’s Cliff; an arts & crafts village with ancillary attractions on Chalky Mount; hiking, biking, horseback riding tours in St Joseph and St Andrew. We are limited only by our imagination.
• Incorporate rum shops into tourism by putting a tourism plaque on rum shops that wish to take part and will meet minimum standards. But please! Don’t let the bureaucrats impose absurd conditions on the shops. Part of the charm of rum shops is their rough-and-ready character. All you require is sanitary and functioning toilets and a clean kitchen.
• Don’t marginalise street vendors. Street vending and street markets are big attractions in most top-rate destinations. Incorporate well-regulated street vending into your tourism plan upfront, not as an afterthought.
• Continue revitalising Bridgetown: knock down the Treasury Building and put a boutique hotel with a rooftop restaurant and small conference facilities there; get the Peirhead project moving; knock down Pelican Village; build a housing and office complex there; incorporate the shops from Pelican into an Oistins-type permanent street fair/village running from the port to Carlisle House on the sea side of the road.
• Lack of traffic management is killing our island. Make a plan to shuttle people to and from work safely and on time so they leave their cars at home or in satellite parking areas. Look at best practices elsewhere, especially in other successful small islands. Consider ferries and water taxis along the West and South Coasts.
• Make the airport a wonderful service attraction and experience that visitors will talk about.
Happy New Year.
Peter Laurie is a retired diplomat and a commentator on social issues; email [email protected]
