A lot has been written on this and other sites about the state of the tourism industry but unfortunately most criticism and not solid suggestions to create a vision for the long term.
It is said that to plan the future, you must know your past. I think many will agree that the two major long term successes of Barbados’s tourism were created right in the heart of the Barbados Tourist Board later to become the Barbados Tourism Authority.
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The Barbados Bonanza program was created by Denis O’Leary in Canada in the late 60’s
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Crop Over was created by Julian Marryshaw and Carol Cadogan in the 70’s .
Since then we have tried many things but none seem to have stuck. The Barbados Bonanza led at a later stage to the Best of Barbados. A program meant to keep foreign exchange at home and hotel rooms full in the off months.
The success of Crop Over is that it was created for Bajans. Tourism caught on to its tail and the rest is history. This in itself should say to all that the most successful festivals should be made for Bajans not to influence visitors. If Bajans accept and participate in an event, naturally they will tell their friends and family and this will create sustainability.
If tourism is our business, here are a few suggestions to make it good business:
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Create a system where small businessmen can rent a particular part of a beach. They would be responsible for keeping it clean, and can rent chairs and umbrellas to clients.
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Create underwater art galleries.
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Each year there should be a contest to get the best folk song to be used by the BTA to sell Barbados abroad.
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Open houses. Take this to another level and invite visitors to see houses in all economic levels of Barbados. Get more local people involved!
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Create the world’s largest outside chess competition. Boards 16 X 16 feet in as many parts of Barbados as possible and invite adults and kids worldwide to come and compete.
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Resurrect the Harbour police uniforms to be used by police in Bridgetown only.
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Create a trooping of the colour at Government Headquarters every Wednesday at 12.00
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Encourage the creation of a flying fish and dolphin sanctuary at Worthing. Make the reef and bay area a protected region for snorkelling and free diving. No fishing, and no motor boats of any kind.
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Give mopeds with max speed of 30 km the same status as bicycles (no motorcycle licence needed) . Encourage Bajans and visitors to use them instead of cars.
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Use some of the prison population to clean, paint and beautify the churches and old government buildings.
I do not want to imply that I have the solution to Barbados’s tourism woes but I do believe that together we can solve the problem. My suggestions might seem trivial but as a destination we must ensure that our tourism product and activities stand out head and shoulders above the other Caribbean nations.
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