It is a fact our tourism industry is the only sector paying the bills at this time. We are a country that imports almost all of what we eat AND by our conspicuous consumption behaviour we are a veracious consumer of fossil fuel. The result of high oil prices – settled at greater than USD100.00 in recent months – is a bigger chunk is taken from forex earnings. Then there is the vexing issue of debt servicing. Until we are able to find sustainable approaches to reduce our forex dependency and or generate greater amounts, tourism will continue to be the goose laying the golden egg.

The decision by the government to give generous concessions to Butch Stewart and Sandals continues to generate heated debate locally. The key argument for many is the quantum of concessions given and not that any were given. Unfortunately what the debate has done is to divide key stakeholders in the private and public sectors at a time when we need to be a cohesive force in challenging times.

It is no secret the local tourism industry has been negatively impacted by the global economic challenges of the last seven years. The statistics paint a sorry performance of the sector in recent years. The challenge for many Caribbean island islands dependent on tourism is how to maintain and increase the level of tourism revenue to support our lifestyle needs.

The equation is simple, if as a country we do not want to make a lifestyle adjustment, we have to find ways to earn the foreign exchange to support it.

Against the background of Barbados’ poor tourism performance made more stark when compared to others in the Caribbean,  it provokes the question, what are the others doing to better manage the industry if compared to Barbados. A look at the Dominican Republic makes for interesting review. Here is a snippet from an article posted by Caribbean360.com titled Dominican Republic dominates regional tourism.

A raft of incentives also plays its part in the continued development of the tourism plant, with a tax incentive law that provides a 15-year exemption to companies engaged in tourism development, including hotels, attractions and tourist-related activities.

The law also offers tax incentives to existing hotels and resorts that have been in operation for at least five years. A 100 percent tax exemption is available to existing hotels and resorts that are at least 15 years old and remodel or reconstruct more than 50 percent of their facilities.

The above deflates the argument we are having in Barbados whether concessions should be given across the board to the tourism sector. If our key competitors in the region are doing it how can the local sector be expected to compete if we do not? In fairness to the government it has relaxed an earlier position on the issue but there is a sense it has been done under duress and therefore a lack of commitment exist to make it work for us.

Another interesting extract from the article (BU’s emphasis):

According to Expedia’s Demetrius Canton, director of market management in the Caribbean, Expedia’s demand for the Dominican Republic grew 33 percent last year, with the leading source markets continuing to be the United States, Canada, France, Brazil, Italy and the United Kingdom.

The bottomline, we continue to diddle and haggle while our neighbours surge ahead.