THE BARBADOS TOURISM AUTHORITY (BTA) needs to invest more money in promoting local and regional tourism destinations.

Board member and hotelier Adrian Loveridge made this call as the industry braces for what he predicted would be a "tough summer" in the face of rising prices.

Loveridge anticipates that May and June will be very "soft" months for the tourism sector in keeping with tradition, with some improvement during July and August for Crop-Over.

Meanwhile, September and the first half of November have been identified as "very difficult" months for the sector.

He said British newspapers were carrying reports of travellers not booking or cancelling holiday plans, while charter airline Excel has indicated it will not be coming to Barbados this winter.

"This is an indication that things are getting rough," the hotelier said.

Loveridge, also chairman of the Small Hotels Committee of the BTA, said there were also concerns of low visitor arrivals from the United States and British markets, while the Canadian market was expected to increase.

To cushion the blow, Loveridge suggested Barbados focus more on promoting tourism products locally and at the regional level.

Decrease in travel

However, figures indicate that intra-regional travel is already down by 30 per cent with the merger of LIAT and Caribbean Star airlines.

Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association president Alvin Jemmott earlier this year said there was a 16 per cent drop in Caribbean Community travellers to Barbados, with the sector losing US$2.5 million in 2007.

Figures from the Barbados Statistical Service indicated that while there were 82 989 CARICOM nationals (not including Trinidad and Tobago) visiting Barbados in 2006, that figure dropped by 16 per cent for 2007.

In addition, visitors from Trinidad and Tobago dropped by 12.2 per cent in 2007 from the 34 480 who visited the previous year.

It is against these odds that Loveridge made the call for additional funds to promote Barbados' tourism product at the local and regional level.

"We need to persuade more local people to eat in [local] restaurants and stay in hotels," Loveridge said.

During an interview with the DAILY NATION, Loveridge, also owner of the Peach And Quiet Hotel, said the Rediscover Barbados And Rediscover The Caribbean programmes never stopped, and were integral to the industry's survival.

"As a hotelier I know the value of business especially in the summer months," he said. (JR-B)