Welcome to the very first Tourism MATTERS weekly column. Its objective is to comment on what is happening within our most important foreign exchange earner, while exploring if there are more creative solutions to tackling the industry’s many challenges.

The writer has spent almost his entire working life (44 years) in tourism, as a travel agent, tour director, tour operator across 67 countries and for the last 22 years trying to become a good small hotelier. One of my biggest single disappointments has not being able to convince our tourism policymakers of the value and untapped potential of airline mileage programmes.

Why do I consider them so important?

The first ever airline loyalty programme, American Airlines AAdvantage was launched in 1981 and now has a staggering 62 million members. To grasp that number, it’s roughly the same as the population of the United Kingdom, our single largest market.

Earning miles by actually flying is only one of thousands of ways to accumulate and redeem miles. By using affinity credit or debit cards to pay everyday bills, tens of thousands of miles can be gathered in a relatively short period.

Airfares from most cities in North America to Barbados are generally more expensive than many of our Caribbean competitors due to our geography. The use of miles eliminates this competitive disadvantage, as the requirement is the same from any two points.

This may not deter potential travellers from gateways like New York or Miami, where competition helps drive down high airfares, but if you are considering flying from cities like San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago or perhaps our new gateway, Dallas (from December), the use of miles can make all the difference in destination choice.

So in American’s case, 30,000 miles ordinarily will get you a return economy ticket to Barbados from any of the cities they serve. Yes! You still have to pay some taxes and extras, but to put it in perspective, Dallas for instance, they amount to only US$53.

It is also important to understand that the vast majority of mileage programme members use their accumulated miles for vacation travel, so you already have a semi captive audience. These independent travellers research and book their accommodation options directly, therefore maximising the revenue to the hotel or villa by eliminating travel agency commission and/or tour operator’s margins.

Full rate bookings not only then present the room provider with the highest possible return, but also directly relates to increased tax collection by Government.

Secondly, the question of subsidising flights or any other element of the holiday cost simply doesn’t come into the equation.

All the marketing access channels currently exist to reach these 62 million AAdvantage members, simply by using the airlines website and regular email offers and statements.

American recognised this potential a long time ago and have taken it to new levels with the introduction of highly targeted and measurable tools, like the recently launched Milestones website.

Just imagine for a single moment if we were able to influence just 1 per cent of 1 per cent of those 62 million AAdvantage members to choose Barbados as their preferred destination choice?

To continue ignoring this incredible opportunity is tantamount to saying that we really don’t need another market with the potential of a second United Kingdom.