Members of the BU family have been emailing to confirm a shakeup at the Barbados Tourism Authority. The matter was brought to the public at a Barbados Labour Party (BLP) meeting yesterday held at the Ellerslie School by Ian Gooding-Edghill. It has been mentioned on BU that the life of government statutory boards will be expiring and the government and sitting directors will have the opportunity to replace or leave the boards they serve respectively.
In the case of the Barbados Tourism Authority (BTA) our investigation has confirmed that CEO of Almond Incorporated Ralph Taylor, Senator Peter Gilkes and Michael Yearwood will be leaving the BTA Board. BU believes the BTA Board under Ralph Taylor’s chairmanship, has failed to lend the visionary direction required, at a time when the industry is confronted with numerous challenges. While we may excuse him because his attention was probably held by the rapidly deteriorating financial position in Almond Resorts’ balance sheet, the government should be always mindful of its obligation to operate in the national interest at all times.
Is it unreasonable to hope that the new chairperson will be someone who brings a mixture of enthusiasm laced with the right amount of experience? The national budget for tourism is not insignificant and Barbados taxpayers would demand a BTA Board which can maximize every dollar spent, especially in hard times.
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