Tourism Minister Hon. Edmund Bartlett has called on regional players to reimagine the sector in the wake of the devastating COVID outbreak.
Minister Bartlett stated, “In this post-COVID era, we must as a region rethink and redefine the meaning of tourism if we are to maximise our earnings and growth,” during the Caribbean Hotel and Tourist Association’s (CHTA) Travel Forum and Awards Luncheon held today at Sandals Royal Barbados. The direct, indirect, and induced economic advantages in the tourism value chain can drive growth in the region, therefore it’s important that we start thinking of tourism as more than just hotels, cruise lines, and attractions.
Hon. Kenneth Bryan, Minister of Tourism and Transport, Cayman Islands, and Chairman, Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO); Hon. Ian Gooding-Edghill, Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Barbados; and Marc Melville, CEO, Chukka Caribbean spoke at the CHTA Travel Forum, which had the theme, “Tourism the Key Driver of Generational Wealth for Caribbean Nationals.”
Agricultural, technological, health care, manufacturing, and many more industries all have important roles to play in making tourism a success. According to Minister Bartlett, “the true wealth of tourism lies in the ability to supply on the demands of the industry.”
The Caribbean Travel Forum is a brand-new event that takes place on the periphery of the CHTA Caribbean Travel Marketplace. It focuses on the commercial aspects of Caribbean tourism, including intra-Caribbean travel with an emphasis on air connectivity and multi-destination marketing, sustainability, technological innovations, labour market constraints, and taxation.
Given that 42% of all international tourists are motivated only by hunger, it follows that businesses providing food have a great opportunity to profit. Minister Bartlett remarked that it is important to get the word out that tourism is open to everybody with an idea since anyone can turn a concept into real income.
Climate change and emerging technologies like AI were also discussed by a panel at the CHTA Travel Forum. During these talks, Minister Bartlett once again advocated for the creation of a Resilience Fund, to which all tourists may donate money to offset their carbon footprints. Moreover, he acknowledged the importance of embracing emerging technology in tourism and called for “training, training, training to ensure a better understanding to leverage them.”
From May 9-11, Barbados will play host to the 41st annual Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association Caribbean Travel Marketplace, the largest annual event of its kind in the region.
