All set for good winter season

SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCED airlift into Barbados, heavy hotel bookings and a spruced-up, upgraded and expanded hotel plant are expected to cap one of Barbados’ best tourism seasons in recent years.

Yesterday saw the official start of the 2015/16 winter season and hoteliers have spent millions of dollars on their properties, taking advantage of an amendment to the Tourism Development Act which allowed them to access increased concessional items for building, refurbishing and renovating.

More than 24 hotels within the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) have carried out major building works and renovations. The former Amaryllis hotel on Hastings Main Road, Christ Church, reopened as the all-inclusive Sugar Bay, bringing 186 rooms back into the room inventory. Yellow Bird Hotel in St Lawrence Gap spent US$1 million to enhance its accommodation; Coconut Court hotel in Hastings and Butterfly Beach Hotel in Maxwell each renovated 30 of their rooms, while the west coast Almond Beach Hotel brought its room compliment to 195 with the addition of 30 rooms.

Chief executive officer (CEO) of the BHTA, Sue Springer, commended these and all the other hotels that had moved to upgrade to be more sustainable and competitive in the “very fierce global market”.

Please read the full story in today’s Midweek Nation, or in the eNATION edition.