2015 Budget Ignores Important Tourism Sector
I had hoped to dedicate this week’s column to the new measures put in place announced in the 2015 budget to stimulate spending, especially in the tourism sector. Unless I missed something while trawling through the 57 pages, not a single ‘incentive’ has been announced […] that would be likely to encourage an increase in domestic spending across the sector. Conversely, many could fairly claim that the additional $200 million in taxation annually will further restrain people’s ability to take a ‘staycation’ or enjoy one of many excellent restaurants. In fact private sector led initiatives like the re-DISCOVER dining promotion have been forced to scale down any paid promotion, due to the continued inability to reclaim due and payable VAT refunds, now overdue for more than two years. This in itself is ludicrous and short sighted as many of the participating restaurants do not qualify and are unable to apply the reduced rate of 7.5 per cent VAT although obligated to pay the higher 17.5 per cent rate. As a consequence Government could be easily losing up to $2 million a year in lost taxes. Add the duties and taxes lost in the included wine element and that figure could well be significantly more, let alone the employment this promotion generates.
Until we witness real sustained recovery in tourism, it is very difficult to comprehend why any Government thinks that increasing taxation and operating costs will reduce the time it takes to attain that objective. A very simple example, is the recent reduction in Advanced Passenger Duty (APD) and elimination altogether for children under 12. As a result, at least one British tour operator is reporting a 25 per cent increase in long haul holiday bookings. If this ‘advantage’ is going to be negated by higher operational and food costs caused as a direct result of increased taxation, then we will simply spin-in-mud and any early year gains in arrival numbers will be lost later in the year.
And while most reasonable people can see the logic of revisiting the VAT free ‘basket of goods’ the inevitable result will be to pass any price hikes onto the consumer and in this particular case, our visitors. Thus compounding the perception ‘we’ have as being an expensive destination. The consequence will be to push even more people considering choosing Barbados as a holiday to other places that truly offer better value-for-money.
Every accommodation provider, apart from one, who offers a food option, will have no alternative but to revisit their pricing model and inevitably push prices up even further. The current administration also does not seem to have learnt anything from past mistakes. Raise land taxes in a recession by 50 per cent and now increase them again when there is a glimmer of hope with a possible tourism recovery. Whatever your politics this simply defies rationale and makes absolutely no economic sense.
Barbados Underground 
Maybe because they are inextricably linked the the Cahill deal
Does the coke unloading facility needed that sinklair says will cost the tax payer nothing go right beside our cruise liners???
Maybe the vitrified slag is the building block for the creation of a coral reef park to attract the tourists
Either way Cahill won’t be there as this Cowan bitch is selling the contract for millions and slinking off into the sunset to spend our money
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The implementation of these evil wicked murderous TAXATION policies of these intellectually and politically backward, bankrupt and descredited DLP and BLP governments over the last 30 years or so will continue to serious help in destroying and preventing much growth and development in industry and commerce in Barbados.
Taxation must go in this country!!
PDC
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At some point the tourist industry will have to come to terms with the fact that because they have such a raft of concessions already, that there aren’t any more to be had.
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Begging! Begging! Begging!
All some of these small and medium sized the hoteliers in Barbados do is beg. This mendicant lot has not pioneered a single novel idea in the last two decades that it has been touted as the mainstay of the local economy but yet at every turn they seek to beg and live parasitically off the backs of taxpayers.
Take the idea of “Stay-Cations”, a vacation at home on the rock. The cost of one of these is so high, that few take them option rather to travel. So, there goes another of their flops! And what do they want now? Our tax dollars to prop up their declining occupancy rates and related profits.
Stop whining! Stop complaining! Go use your brain and whit to lure visitors here and then encourage them to spend and not pass thru and see the sights.
I am so sick of seeing this complaining all the time, over and over.
Here’s what I want the writer to do. Submit your industry to a forensic audit and then coming out of that audit, we can talk about concessions and other “give-aways”. Until then, don’t waste our collective time complaining about what you don’t get, because in sum total, you give nothing!
Bye now!
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They just asked for the same concessions as Sandals. Now they want more in de budget?
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@ The Watcher
Could not agree with you more. These guys have not produced one product of any international significance. All they do is blame the governments. They want Sandals benefits but they cannot after sixty years come up with anything to match Sandals. It’s amazing.
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$1.9b vs $3.3b. Wow! I guess de brawling minista of fineants could attribute this to the turbulence in foreign markets….don’t forget the tourists are still travelling to other markets.Talk about leadership by the corn beef and biscuit party of Babayduss which gave school children free bus’fear.’ Who really believes that this bunch who truly do not comprehend local leadership and administration would have a clue about foreign affairs as it relates to tourism? What a bunch of brusque unsophisticates led a doting pm whose MO is to merely spew bullshit in the commodore as was witnessed in their budget.
@PDC…when you occupy the seat of ‘governance and leadership’ in the island I want you to take charge of the the motor vehicle insurance ‘scheme’ and remove it from the purses of private entities esp. those who are affiliates with or those whose parent company are profiteers of international pillaging or benefited from the slave trade. Remove these leeches from the economy of Barbados and in doing so you can invest those insurance funds into honourable and profitable markets and then return the profits to the people. Remove the middle men from the economy….they induce hemorrhaging.
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@William
Are you referring to an industry that is responsible for 60% GDP?
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@William.
Have you ever realized that when you are making points that cant be dismissed or ignored people try changing the subject matter or leading the conversation/argument down another path?
Here’s and example: “Are you referring to an industry that is responsible for 60% GDP?”
Please. Are we that useless that a useless and un-profitable industry is responsible for this level of GDP? Is our GDP so low and our net value worldwide so insignificant that a failing industry can be touted in this manner.
Well, isn’t this one of the most classic cases of “In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king?”
Give me a break and go show value that’s INDISPUTABLE.
I will call this as it really is. Mendicant, Caucasian parasites looking to exercise their misplaced sense of entitlement to the detriment of anyone else!
You FAIL!
GO and work like everyone else and stop trying to steal peoples birthrights!
Sickening, disgusting fools!
I’m done with this topic. Let’s concentrate on seeing how we can involve our people in brainstorming ideas and solutions to get us collectively on a firm footing.
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@TheWatcher
What other engines of growth we have had for the last 10 years? If you want to refute the 60% number direct your questions to our leading economists and the Central Bank.
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@ David
The fact that the industry constitutes 60% of GDP does mean that the hoteliers have not been acting like spoiled brats. And it does not change the fact that they have not produced any product to match Sandals. Also, David may I remind you that slavery built the sugar cane industry and there are figures to prove that sugar production was high. Did that make the plantocracy great business people? Did that justify enslaving millions of black people? Certainly not. So spouting convenient figures to dismiss an undeniable fact is just the use and abuse of statistics.
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@ The Watcher
There will always be those who cannot accept that sticking to a particular line helps the debate. We have those who are skilled in the art of using red herrings to buttress their very weak positions on certain topics.
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@William
Our economies are built on different economic fundamentals and to do a straight line comparison may not be the fairest way to do it. Conversely Barbados has many achievements Jamaican.s may envy and aspire. Bottomline, Butch received concessions from Jamaica and all the other jurisdictions he operates.
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It is dangerous and stupid for Barbados to allow Tourism to be 60% of GDP.
The Sargassum encircling the island is a warning.
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@ David
Buliding an internationally recognised brand such as Sandals is an incredible achievement. All I am saying is that we have not seen this from our hoteliers. I am not comparing Jamaica and Barbados. Let us ask ourselves this question: Have our hoteliers demonstrated that they are prepared to be enterprising and creative players or just extensions of room and board operators? They have blamed every government , every beach vendor, hotel workers taxi operators and everybody else and thing for their failures.A few years ago they invited a guest speaker who told them that even something as simple as a properly functioning website , they got wrong. Are they really serious? Are governments to always underwrite their collective lack of vision? For years they literally refused to promote local cuisine. Are governments to blame for that? Did the governments not invest in a hotel school to make sure they had properly trained workers? How many times have governments had to improve the airport to accommodate their industry? I am not saying that governments have been perfect but we need to put the hoteliers under the microscope as well.
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@ David
Let me answer you pointedly since you pretend that you can question me, but cant answer me.
The answer to the question that you posed is either “not any that I can identify” or “None”
Now let me say this to you. Tourism is not an engine of growth. It is a crutch. Something that we lean on lazily because we don’t want to think or just cant. If you want to talk about engines of growth, Tourism cant be mentioned either.
And growth is something that when set in motion, is experienced by all, not a select few parasites. So my measure of growth is when the man on the street, the ordinary man if you will, can live in comfort, can pay his bills, and have a penny or two in the financial vehicle of his choice.
As for your reference to the Central Bank of Barbados, I will say to you that that institution has no Credibility! None! Don’t quote them.
@ William
I find that people like these we’re going head to head with here are all about their selfish desires and perceived wants. So they would like to brow-beat us into submission because their colonial mindset has not yet been beaten out of them “By any means necessary”
When you examine the look of the people proliferating this behaviour, they almost all look the same. Its no co-incidence that this is the case. Look outside our shores and take a look at the color of greed if you will and you will see a very sustainable picture.
My point here is simple. They are people who believe that they are “ENTITLED” to what you have or what they want from you, whether that is your money, land, time, ideas, it does not matter. They want it and they should have it.
All of the ideas proliferated here which are in congruence with the argument supporting the use of government subsidies in any form, are ideas from those who care exclusively about themselves, but who cannot prove economically, socially or otherwise why we should allow or engage in this.
Keep your head on Will, don’t be distracted by the Untermensch, Drivers of deceptions, or proliferators of disinformation. They have embarked on a Sisyphean task which they believe they can accomplish.
Good luck to the whole lot of them.
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Hants with my recent episode dealing with the pirates of the carribean, word gets around …you may need that seaweed for food as tourism dies it may be a blessing in disguise because I cant think of another thing than tourism that Barbados has to sell.
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@TheWatchet
You are entitled to your opinion. This is where we find ourselves, a service based economy.
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@ lawson June 23, 2015 at 1:17 PM
“you may need that seaweed for food as tourism dies it may be a blessing in disguise because I cant think of another thing than tourism that Barbados has to sell.”
Sugar is dead in Barbados and tourism- despite its recent show of revival like a terminally ill person appearing to bloom in their final days- is on its way out.
The summer’s performance of this industry would determine whether this single-cylinder economic engine would take Barbados out of the economic wilderness as promised by the false profit Moses Stinkliar.
Cuba could be the nail in Barbados’s tourism coffin.
If these stupid people in charge of tourism can’t even get the Oistins Bay Garden cash cow to be a place of cleanliness and to pose no threat to visitors’ health and security how on earth can they deal with and combat Nature’s vicissitudes like the sargassum seaweed invasion? Do you see the amount of bilge water filth visitors have to wade through at the Oistins Bay Garden even in a period of drought?
I am fed-up to the neck having to make excuses to friends from overseas and other visitors for this awful state of affairs.
Like the tonnes of other people’s to be imported for the WTE plant, the blacks like modern-day slaves can emigrate to the cocoa plantations via the gold coast of West Africa. Or their emaciated bodies could serve as garbage input for the WTE plant instead of the hundred of thousands of tonnes of stinking garbage that must be imported.
Who will pay for the imported garbage? Who will pay for its costly transportation to the island and storage in a so-called tourism dependant coral atoll?
How the hell can you make a forex earning enterprise out of burning other people’s garbage while making tourism your number one business? What the fcuk is that silly people?
Black Bajans are some of the most ‘mis-educated’ and naively stupid people on Earth. This is what the black jokers behaving like monkeys in business suits had to say to the naïve lot of fellow Bajans:
“Why environmentally sound? We all have to
live, move and have our being in the protection
of the environment. Daily, as we interact with
one another we also interact with nature. The
contest with nature which characterized man’s
relationship in earlier times, has now become a
contract with nature in our times. A degraded
and unhealthy environment is a threat to man’s
very existence on this planet; and this Manifesto
recognizes that important fact.”
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” I’m done with this topic. Let’s concentrate on seeing how we can involve our people in brainstorming ideas and solutions to get us collectively on a firm footing.”
You must have a lot of faith in “your” people. From where I’m standing there is a more of a chance of Jesus Christ returning to earth than a collection of Bajans coming up with sound ideas and solutions. Then again what do I know.
Even my old sparring partner (Lawson) seems to be spot on – yet again!
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jesus christ this lot has no shame beg and beg till their guts bust, and they still keep begging .one thing for sure loveridge has never miss a drum beat for some of these sorry lots in the hotel industry when it comes to begging,, never mind when its is their turn at the table they serve” cut plate” even loveridge alluded to the fact that the hoteliers response to his pet project re discover barbados was disappointing guess he should have known that if money was coming out of there pocket that would have been the kind of response expected, but i guess loveridge believed that since he has on several occasions served a beverage of poisonous wine to the public about the govt as a favor to the hoteliers he would have been entitled to a payback of generous support for his pet project re-discover barbados, from the hoteliers .
Any fool should have known that the hoteliers are driven by greed and the only thing that is of interest is that govt keep their wheels well oiled and their linen cloths liily white so they can boast to those who knows no better what a great job they have done in contributing 60% GDP to the barbados economy.whilst forgetting that the taxpayers monies went a long way in providing the engine that turns their wheels,
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instead of this political cronyism the youth of Barbados should be told the truth not some debateable numbers or rankings making everything look rosy They should be told get the fu8k out of dodge , your chances here are limited, make a life somewhere else you can always come home. 150,000 Somalis cant be wrong Canada is where it is at.just 5 hours away How can barbadian youth be inspired when most of the people coming home or immigrating there are winding their lives down wanting to uncomplicated them. There is no energy for these young people to feed off just the old step and fetch. but mother nature is trying to intervene making the hope of even those jobs iffy. There is no chance of Barbados being the king of cane, ever again, govts are starting to reign in off shore banking, the other islands are becoming more sophisticated and are cheaper . But until the govts are transparent about the real state of affairs and there is a mass exodus, tourism is all you got so you better support it.
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really!
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On what basis does 60% of the GDP is tourism related? Are we including both direct and indirect impact ? How many people are directy employ in the industry vs agriculture ? How many foreign exchange does the industry generate vs FDI? and what is the leakage rate. ?
The tourism indutry throughout the caribbean is the largest corporate welfare industry. The subsidies they get along with other goverment support is way more generous than the cheap employment they provide .
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Will some explain to someone who has personally operated a hotel for 27 years on Barbados exactly WHAT subsidies we get from Government? Apart from a reduced rate of land tax (when we are open) I have not received a single concession from any Government here.
Duty free facilities are available in theory, but for the majority of accommodation partners obtaining them is a very arduous process and the majority simply do not bother.
Conversly we have not received a VAT refund for over 27 months without any interest.
Start telling the truth.
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Jesus christ loveridge you got not only nerve but mitigated gall to ask that question outside of the concessions which adds up to billions collectively over the years. How about the numerous loans and which were not repaid part of which has becoming burdening debt to the economy and which all has to make sacrifice in repaying. How about them loans. Loveridge care to address that issue.
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ac,
you mean Hotels and Resorts Ltd (GEMS) ?
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‘Cabinet had agreed to debt relief by HRL by way of a write-off for $160 million’ –
Senator Maxime McClean
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Adrien you had the list of the hotels and they were placed on bu along with other entities who owe govt..however since the issue (here)is about the hoteliers mentioned of them is necessary to emphaise how much the hoteliers received over the years which included taxpayers money in the form of loans which was never repaid. On the point of “write off”that does not void or erase the debt which came out of govt revenue which (if)had repaid would have helped to ease some of the burdening debt
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@Adrian
You have forgotten BU’s advise?
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David, only temporarily. I wondered if you added up the entire debt owed to Government by failed hotels, what that figure would be and if the total amounted to even 5 per cent of the money squandered on GEMS?
Some people have selective memories.
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@Adrian
You need to add the relief monies gifted to all those hotels like Silver Sands and let us not forget Executive Car Rentals.
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David Adrien is a grown man he has a right to speak to whomever he pleases… i guess unless you are his father it s pitiful, to see adrien having to get permission from you or any one if she chooses to defend his article . the fact is that he post these articles for certain interest, the above article is one of many but ignores basic facts that are crucial to the lifeline of barbados tourism industry, yes barbados is dependent on the industry but on the other hand the industry is also dependent on barbados for sourcing So there must be a balance and truthfully that balance is missing with the govt always having the heaviest load to pull therefore naturally people would be mad as hell every time some of these hoteliers come begging before the ink is dried on one concession or loan , please tell me what are the responsibilities on their side.
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The word on the street is that the man in the middle, who Chris Sinckler blasted last week, had his big ride taken away.
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There is too much doom and gloom on BU. I have a strange feeling that many of our contributors are waiting at the bedside of a loved one whom is on the verge of passing away. I have gone on record as stating that we still have a quality of life far superior to the vast majority of countries in this world (and I would include USA, UK, Russia, China, et al).
We should concentrate on developing a political, economic and social model which is appropriate to our size, location and our assets (land, nature, environment and people). We should not look to compete with other countries. Especially if this means that we enter a race of diminishing returns (a race to the bottom) that will have a negative impact on our natural environment (such as overt pandering to the hotelier industry).
Steady organic growth should be our motto. It is pointless trying to compete with other countries. We have too much to lose.
Lawson you have made some valid points but why should Barbadians emigrate to foreign countries where there may be opened to severe discrimination and humiliation? Some will get on but the majority will struggle. It is far better to stay in one’s country and to build it up
.
I noticed that you said that those who migrated could always come back home. How will this be possible when it has now become an accepted fact that foreigners are purchasing land and properties in ever greater numbers? Barbados has become a rich man’s ghetto.
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Exclaimer I said Canada….racism is not rampant here whoever tells you such a thing is full of crap. Most people living here are immigrants and we mostly all get along go to parliament hill in Ottawa on Canada day and see 100000 people celebrating . It is like musical chairs on the island who is going to have a job and who will be retrenched. it isn’t only the plantocracy that has nepotism as its mantra. I believe that the economy is circling the toilet bowl, every time I come the island it seems to be more shabby than the last, no money to paint and fix up no will to enforce owners to do it. This trip is the first time I have ever been screwed over on a booking, a sure sign even what was thought as reputable people are groveling for scraps and crumbs, like a drowning man grabbing anything to stay afloat
In the time of the black plague the good that came of it was the minimum wage went up for the poor because there wasn’t as many people around to cater to the whims of the rich. In a strange way, if opportunities are sought abroad life will get better for those who remain. People returning on trips to visit family or vacations from the cold will also boost the economy. I am not a Canadian recruiter but being an immigrant and seeing the opportunities given to all here, I see it as a way out for Barbados I haven’t heard any better ideas.
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Hyatt to build two 12 storey towers. Start the critique.
http://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/69135/bayshore-sold
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The way i see it doesn,t matter who owes what and how much! the bottom line remains the same and the govt and taxpayer ends up getting shafted by those hoteliers who refused to pay their debt and then have the mitigated gall to have fits and temper tantrums when govt make decisions which are in the best interest to reserve gov revenue and refused them more.now for Adrien to be drawing comparisons as to who get what and how much is ludicrous and a bold faced insult to the taxpayer who still have to shoulder the debt of these “write offs”
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Long story.
http://www.barbadostoday.bb/2015/06/25/wasted/
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@Hants June 25, 2015 at 8:08 AM #
Hyatt to build two 12 storey towers. Start the critique.
See also: http://www.barbadostoday.bb/2014/10/23/hyatt-coming/
Hyatt coming
Major tourism investments in the works, says Sealy
Added by Neville Clarke on October 23, 2014.
Saved under Business, Tourism
Work is scheduled to begin during the first quarter of next year on a spanking new Hyatt hotel, as part of major investments planned in the island’s bread and butter tourism sector, Minister of Tourism and International Transport Richard Sealy has said.
Speaking in parliament yesterday, he announced that two 12-storey high rise Hyatt Towers will be constructed on the site of the old Harbour Police Station and Detco Motors on Lower Bay Street, The City.
…………………..”
Suggest we wait until we hear from Hyatt
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Hants June 25, 2015 at 8:08 AM #
And probably the next in line to be demolished and make way for top end hotels may be the also now abandoned Carlisle Bay Centre , just a hundred feet to the south of the old Bay Street fish market. Dr Fraser could push heritage tourism as much as he likes, those old buildings in Bay Street ,formerly the old Eye Hospital et all, will one day coming soon, be bulldozed.
Bridgetown has got so bad , that even the vagrants,like rats on a sinking ship, are turning their backs on it, in preference to the new City of Warrens (COW)
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Tonight we hear Dr Henry Fraser on the news indicating that Heritage Tourism is the only way out for Barbados.
That may be so,but before we start to count the takings, take a look at some of these sites in and around Bridgetown.
The Former Bajan Helicopters site
Carlisle Bay centre
The Old Harbour Police Bay Shore Centre.
Barbados Public Library
The old National Insurance building
Empire Cinema
The old Fairchild Street Market, and the shanty town which has sprung up around it.
The Area surrounding the Fairchild Street Bus Stand
The National Stadium
Culloden Farm, the official home of the first Prime Minister.
Umpteen buildings within the Garrison Area
Queens Park House, the former home of the General Officer Commanding the West India Regiment.
Louis Lynch School
Old General Hospital grounds
Old Civil Service Commission building of Lower Collymore Rock
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What Barbados needs is a picture of the virgin mary to appear on the boardwalk wall, or better yet someone to grow a pumpkin or mango in her likeness and so you can get some of that Christian heritage tourism money.
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@ Lawson
What Barbados needs is a picture of the virgin mary to appear on the boardwalk wall…
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
…doing what? shovelling Sargassum seaweeds?
steupsss!!
What Barbados needs is for someone to write a book /film about the good old days (1950’s -1990’s) when we actually had a country…..you know, ..before the ‘Comprehensive school graduates’ took over….
Like the British Empire, Little England’s best days are behind us.
It would have taken men of WISDOM to take us beyond the vision of Barrow and Adams. Instead we appointed to ourselves jokers of the intellectual acumen of AC and Dompey, and the wisdom of Alvin Cummins to conceptualise our future….
Result…..
Brass bowls up shiite street….
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You have gone from little England to little Trinidad in 50 years bravo, don’t be so fast to scoff at my suggestion …seeing a virgin mary or a virgin anyone in Barbados could trigger a lot of excitement because it would be like seeing a unicorn or a mermaid.
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Bushie and Lawson
Just when I was thinking BU talk is too depressing, you guys come on and make me want to keep coming back for more pearls of wisdom.
Can’t wait to see a mermaid,
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lawson June 26, 2015 at 7:21 AM #
What Barbados needs is a picture of the virgin mary to appear on the boardwalk wall, or better yet someone to grow a pumpkin or mango in her likeness and so you can get some of that Christian heritage tourism money.’
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
Man even the unvirgin Marys at the Garrison Heritage site, do not seem to be getting any local or tourism money these days. There are plans to run a tram around the Garrison Heritage site, perhaps we could get the Turf Club to place one of its 12 horse starting gates ,across the road at Bush Hill at nights, fill it with some those after dark fillies ,and invite the tourists and locals fellows to jump in the saddle. Whips optional.
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Colonel there is a simple reason for that money shortfall . That area is too windy…. when the well used ladies are standing around they make sounds like someone blowing into a coke bottle. What it will take is someone with an ear for music like BT to arrange them in an order so they play the tune from coconut airways. Then BT will finally reach the pinnacle of his blogging career where BT will cease to stand for Bush Tea and now will stand for Bush Toner
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Sorry meant tuner
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Colonel Buggy June 26, 2015 at 3:49 PM #
Then Sinckler could collect VAT on every ride.
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@ Lawson
…so who did you think Bush Hill was named in honour of…..? 🙂
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I heard from a good source that some of our top hoteliers are drilling bore holes from within their hotel complexes and are extracting ground water. This is an illegal practice and requires an immediate investigation.
One year ago, I recall that it was discovered that certain hoteliers operating in BIM did not have water meters attached to their water pipes. How was this matter resolved? I presume that those guilty hoteliers would have been fined and would been asked to make up all back payments.
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