Barbados prepares tourism master plan

Published: Monday August 11, 2008

Officials of the Barbados Tourism Authority (BTA) are developing a master plan to ensure the island stays ahead of the competition.

They say the plan would seek to “maximise” investment and development opportunities, as well as current assets and those that are being developed by Government.

The information is contained in a sponsored section in Foreign Affairs, a prestigious publication widely read by experts and government officials interested in international affairs.

The publication didn’t give details of the master plan but said that an investment unit of the Barbados Tourism Investment Inc. (BTI) and the BTA would work together to “generate much of the required restructuring and rejuvenation of the island’s tourism industry.”

According to the publication, BTI “will shift its focus and work exclusively on attracting and facilitating business for tourism investors, while creating joint ventures with the local and international private sector.

“We need to attract people interested in tourism investment,” Minister of Tourism Richard Sealy told the authors of the section. “We need to look for partners critical to our long-term survival,” he said.

With the David Thompson administration accepting proposals for the construction of a “top-level marina” which should be a magnet for the luxury yacht segment of the global tourism market, and with the opportunities wide open for “globally recognised hospitality groups to establish luxury hotels and resorts in Barbados,” there were “plenty of opportunities for the discerning investor who wants to be associated with a quality destination,” the article said.

Governor of the Central Bank, Dr Marion Williams, was quoted as saying that foreign investors establishing a presence in Barbados had access to top-notch professional talent comparable to what they would find in financial capitals like London and New York.

“When investors set up businesses here they rely on a cadre of well-trained professionals. They get high quality service and you really cannot say they were in anyway disadvantaged compared with the services they would have received in London or New York.”


Source: Trinidad Guardian Newspapers
http://www.guardian.co.tt/business3.html