WHERE ARE the brand name hotels?

That was the question asked in the Lower House yesterday by Donville Inniss Member of Parliament for St James South.

The MP said the previous Barbados Labour Party (BLP)administration in its 13-year tenure had not attracted a single international hotel brand like Marriotts or Hyatt, but that would soon change under the new Government.

According to him, the Government would seriously pitch ideas to have world renowned brand hotels on Barbadian soil in the near future.

He made the comments while supporting a resolution to approve the vesting of parcels of land at Harrison's, St Lucy, to the Barbados Tourism Investment Inc. This is being done in preparation for the building of a five-star hotel.

Inniss said that along with attracting international brands back to Barbados, the Government would also make sure the more than 1 000 rooms lost under the BLP would be replaced.

"The last administration did untold harm to this country's tourism industry," Inniss charged. "Our tourism product is now under severe strain because of the way they treated it."

He said that failures like the Hotels and Resorts (GEMS) plan and the purchase of Eastry House had cost the country's taxpayers more than $100 million, and there was other debt the new Government had been forced to swallow.

"They had no real plan for tourism," Inniss said, claiming that the BLP had spent tons of money to satisfy political friends instead of being truly concerned with tourism development across the board.

He said the Democratic Labour Party's (DLP) new approach to tourism would involve a holistic approach to the sector which would be reflective of the increased demand for hotel rooms.

He salso aid the previous administration had turned Barbados' West and South Coasts to concrete jungles with the building of condos and villas, but that the DLP's approach would be quite different, and would leave open windows to the sea.

"That is what tourists want, and that is what Barbadians deserve, so we will provide it," Inniss promised.

He added that with the DLP, Barbadians would get the opportunity to be in touch with the country's tourism product, and citizens would see the difference.

Inniss said that the Government would also attempt to make sure more of the foreign exchange earned remained in Barbados, since almost 75 cents out of every tourism dollar earned were going back out of the country. (BA)