Over the last few years sailing in Barbados has been resuscitated and reinvigorated by an agile, strategic and focused Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc.The synergies between sailing and the quality tourism product […]

which Barbados offers are so overwhelming that it seemed to be a natural course of progression.

As we travel to Bridgetown, Carlisle Bay, or the marinas to the north of the island we would notice that the berths are occupied with vessels from Europe, USA, Canada and other parts of the world. These sailors who spend their holiday season in Barbados with their family and friends account for many of the room nights in the villas, hotels and guesthouses. They provide good business for the restaurants, bars and car rental companies while they are docked in Barbados.

Indeed sailing contributes significantly to the tourism arrival numbers and the tourist spend within the market.
Cornell Sailing recently highlighted the improvements taking place in Barbados as part of the Governments long term plan to improve facilities for visiting yachts. This work includes the construction of a new marina in the Shallow Draft facility of the Bridgetown Harbour which is scheduled to be opened before summer 2016. The marina will have its own clearance offices for customs and immigration, as well as a range of shore facilities. This facility will host a number of yachts which will be participating in a number of sailing events schedule throughout the year as part of the celebrations for the 50th Anniversary of Independence.
One such event will be the Barbados 50 event which will commence in July 2016 with boats leaving London, sailing to West Africa and scheduled to arrive in Barbados on or around November 30th, 2016.

These many sailing events have received the full support from the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. as they recognised the level of exposure which they would offer to the Barbados Tourism product as well as economic activity which will undoubtedly follow these events.

In an effort to offer a true Barbadian experience these activities will also see the involvement of Barbadians from our schools and a wide cross section of the Barbadian society.
The Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. has gone all out to promote sports tourism and more specifically yachting in Barbados. A few days ago we witnessed the arrival of Ms Barbados, said to be one of the fastest yachts in the world. This yacths which sails around the world with the logo of the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. and Barbados prominently displayed has the single purpose of promoting yachting in Barbados.
Tony Lawson, the owner of Ms Barbados, in a recent press release highlighted the transformational approach to marketing and product development which is being employed by the BTMI, “We are promoting Barbados Tourism in partnership with BTMI but more specifically we are promoting yachting in the island”. He further praised the team at the BTMI for their commitment for the project, “I can’t stress enough just how proactive the Government and BTMI have been. Minister Richard Sealy is fully on board and the BTMI’s CEO, Billy Griffith, has been really hands on with this initiative. Peter Gilkes has been there liaising between the various bodies and ensuring we got a good reception when we arrived here in Barbados.”
The multiprong approached by the government and the team at the BTMI to promote Barbados as the place to be is commendable. Barbados has begun to emerge from the economic down turn buoyed by growth and the tourism sector. The many tourism development projects which are on the way and soon to be started will contribute significantly to economic growth and development in Barbados.

The inclusive approach of the team at the BTMI and the Barbados Tourism Product Authority will allow for a number of Barbadians to benefit directly from this growth and development.

As we are in the height of the tourist season in Barbados we can see the signs of the turnaround. Our economy is moving forward at a steady pace. The strategic manoeuvring of the BTMI will set the stage for smooth sailing in the expansion of the Barbados Tourism Sector.