BARBADOS HAS “wrestled back” some of its tourism market share and the sector is poised for more growth this year.
That’s what senior Barbados Tourism Marketing Incorporated officials are reporting. Speaking today during a news conference at Island Inn Hotel, BTMI chairman Alvin Jemmott said Barbados’ tourism was rebounding, pointing to a 2.2 increase in visitor arrivals last year.
“In 2014 it was a period of marked recovery for Barbados tourism sector. At the end of December, visitor arrivals were up 2.2 per cent year-on-year due in no small part to strong economic recovery and improved consumer confidence in traditional and emerging source markets,” Jemmott said.
“All of our key source markets showed positive signs of growth and this augurs well for the future growth of the Barbados tourism sector from 2015 onwards. In 2014 Barbados tourism arrivals grew by 2.2 per cent. It is the first sign of positive growth in two years and all industry partners must be commended for paying their respective parts in helping to get us to this point.
“This is admirable, considering that our destination is one of the more matured holiday spots in the region and with a very high repeat visitor rate. It also comes against the background that there was a projection of a four per cent decline in arrivals for this year set back in 2013,” he added.
Jemmott said this year tourism officials were aiming to diversify Barbados’ tourism source markets, reduce vulnerability to shocks in any given region and decrease seasonality by adjusting their marketing strategy across booking periods.
This was in addition to deepening strategic partnerships with key travel industry players to simplify the booking process for potential visitors, and pursuing an integrated marketing approach “to ensure the implementation of successful initiatives and lessons learnt across all source markets”. (SC)
