Maritime offerings are under utilized in Barbados and have been so for far too long.
That’s according to Minister of Tourism Richard Sealy who also challenged more businesses to attract and sustain the interest of visitors to these shores.
His comments were made Saturday night at the launch of the new luxury catamaran Spirit of Barbados at the Shallow Draught.
Sealy, while applauding the Foster and Ince group for making such an investment at this tough economic time, underscored its importance at this juncture, especially with the Harbour Master moving to Trinidad.
“Often we forget to realize that businessmen are people who have real blood flowing through their veins; they feel everything we feel,” he said.
Sealy also commended the group for the merchandising aspect they have added to the business. “Too many attractions haven’t exploited the merchandising aspect as they should. When you have an attraction you need to provide as many attractions to extract dollar bills from the customers” he said.
Sealy said it was also important for mature destinations to offer something different in the market.
“It is good to see that what we are celebrating today is 100 per cent Bajan. That is to be saluted,” he said.
Martin Ince, Chief Executive Officer with Foster and Ince Tourism Group, said: “Despite the figures projected in the future for the tourism industry, we continue to be excited about the future of Barbados as a premium destination. We are confident that we have in this new unique catamaran product what it takes to appeal to the luxury and higher end of the market”.
“We are plain old hardworking Bajans with a vision,” he added, noting that it took them eight months to be totally prepared for the launch of what he described as a world class product.
Ince said they started cruises on this new catamaran two weeks ago with some charters.
He said they will be offering a new Sushi and Champagne sunset cruise, along with a Luxury Luncheon Cruise as well as private cruises. He said they would also be organising moonlight cruises to both locals and visitors.
