Friday, March 29, 2024

Bridgetown expensive ‘as France’

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AS THE MIA MOTTLEY ADMINISTRATION begins what may be a long road back to economic prosperity, Barbados has yet another problem on its hands.

It is an assertion, based on research, that Bridgetown is one of the world’s most expensive cities for business travellers.

For the second year in a row, Barbados’ capital was ranked in the fifth spot on the global ranking of locations which can make a serious dent in the wallets of business executives.

ECA International, a leading global marketing company based in London, uses daily hotel rates, costs of meals, transportation, laundry, alcoholic beverages, soft drinks and other essentials to decide which cities were the most expensive for business travellers.

ECA insisted along the way that it made “the complex world of international mobility simple, providing clients with the expertise and support they need to make the right decisions – every time”.

In the latest rankings, the “ten most expensive locations for business travel globally” placed New York at the top. Next were Geneva, Switzerland; Zurich, also in Switzerland; Luanda in Angola; Bridgetown, Barbados; Paris, France;  Nassau, Bahamas; Washington, D C; Basel, Switzerland, and Monaco.

Bridgetown’s ranking meant the capital was second only to New York as the Western Hemisphere’s costliest city. In addition, business travel to Bridgetown was: the priciest in the Caribbean, a region which thrives on international business and vacation travel; probably more expensive than London, Paris or Toronto; considered more expensive than the vast majority of European cities; and according to global mobility experts, far ahead of such costly destinations as Reykjavik in Iceland, Copenhagen – Denmark’s capital, and Bern in Switzerland.

Simon Franklin, ECA’s daily rates manager, said the rankings provided companies with information that helped them “determine daily expense allowances for staff undertaking international travel”.

But Barbados, which has been hit by a sewage crisis that triggered unfavourable headlines across Britain and Canada, was given a high ranking in another survey that underscored cost. In a separate study, the island was ranked sixth among the top ten “most expensive countries for expatriates”.

That listing was led by Angola in 2017 followed by Norway, Switzerland, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Barbados, The Bahamas, Japan, Denmark and Ghana in that order.

But Barbados wasn’t alone. In 2016, Bermuda was fifth and The Bahamas tenth.

“You see, at the top of the rankings the global cities such as London, Paris, New York, they’re all very high because the  . . . numbers are very high,” stated Franklin. (TB)

 

(Taken from this week’s BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY.)

 

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