THE NEED FOR CHANGE A shared article on a well-known social media platform on May 11/2022 respecting Barbados and the Caribbean tourism recovery progress brought back memories of a posting in the March 23 /2020 edition of Barbados Underground under the caption “We need a new game to promote Tourism”. Both articles offered opinionated suggestions on the development of various
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Submitted by Paula Sealy A two-week circuit-breaker lockdown could be introduced in England after Christmas to combat the rise of the Omicron coronavirus variant. Following the advice of scientific advisers, The Times has reported, government officials had prepared draft regulations that would reintroduce restrictions similar to those in step two of that country’s roadmap out of lockdown last spring. The
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Submitted by Peter Lawrence Thompson DLP Tourism spokesman Richard Sealy is mistaken. He leaked the report from the Hilary Beckles led committee to come up with a new tourism slogan in the hope of embarrassing the Government; however the committee has actually done an amazingly good job. See Link to Nation newspaper story – Sealy: Slogan an embarrassment I actually
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Nathan J. Green 21st July 2021 Good Day A Notice to all Hotels and Cruise Ship Companies. My name is Nathan ‘Jolly” Green; I am a Caribbean journalist, and a freelance acting on the instructions of a well-known international TV company. Between August and December, my five-person team will begin surveying and inspecting a mixture of 150 hotels and cruise
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Two things occurred which were reported in the press on June 30th, 2021 that makes one wonder what the vision for the Tourism Industry is and if there is synchronization of the plans and actions in the various departments of Government. First was an article in which it was reported that the Minister of Tourism Lisa Cummins spoke to the
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The following was submitted by Joe Norton PR Executive of Impressions, a UK Digital company based in the UK with an objective of directing clicks/impressions to various websites. The blogmaster is reluctant to post submissions which have a commercial objective. In this case the opening up of the country with an improved quarantine requirement although still aggressive makes this a
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It is no secret to the BU family and elsewhere the man behind the Barbados Welcome Stamp is Peter Lawrence Thompson. To his credit he thanked the BU family for helping him give birth to the concept. The Barbados Welcome Stamp is a work programme which establishes a visa to allow people to work remotely in Barbados for a maximum
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This week the UK relaxed overseas travel, however, based on a traffic light classification it means UK travellers to Barbados- a country classified AMBER- will have to quarantine for 10 days on return. Based on a BU source hotels and apartments in Barbados have started to receive cancellations. Arrivals from countries on the amber list will need to quarantine at
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During the current lockdown it’s perhaps an ideal opportunity to reflect on the positives and negatives of an everyday small business and hope that these experiences can benefit us all in the recovery days to come. While not directly tourism related, any reasonable person has to ponder what on earth was on the minds of the management of one or
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For readers who are unfamiliar with the name Saga Holidays, it is a British based tour operator with nearly seven decades of experience, specializing in offering over 50 year-old customers or travellers holidays and cruises worldwide. On 21st January the company announced that all clients must be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 at least 14 days before departure on all holidays,
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While the words ‘Holiday safety more important than price’ may not bring immediate comfort to our tourism industry and policy planners, it just could be a critical deciding factor in the recovery process, as and when that materializes. AllClear Travel Insurance which boasts on its website that it is the UK’s most trusted travel insurance provider, holding the coveted Trustpilot
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Will it be about the quantity or the quality, both in terms of numbers and beneficial contribution when cruise ships finally return to Barbados? Traditionally of course, we usually only see one or maybe two cruise ships arrive weekly during the long summer months, but come November under post pandemic conditions the Bridgetown Port is thriving with a multitude of
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In view of the most recent dramatic changes, due to Covid -19 developments, both at home and overseas, is it time to think again about lifting some, if not all of the taxes and levies imposed on our tourism industry, at least until there is some evidence of recovery? It must be obvious by now that many of our tourism
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After writing this column, almost religiously, every week for over ten years and a tourism specific published contribution for over two decades , the almost overwhelming feeling -under the current pandemic situation with a severe lack of good news -is frankly just to give in and stop until meaningful recovery is in clear sight. But this would of course be
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Traditionally, for years this period between Christmas and New Year the United Kingdom normally experiences the largest level of holiday bookings than at any other time annually. Not this year of course, with our tourism policymakers and planners left to contemplate, what, if anything they can do to bridge the enormous void of visitor arrivals. It is an unprecedented situation
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As we come to the end of another year, for many around the world, probably the most unpredictable of their entire lives, it is perhaps time to reflect, while trying to make sense and possibly attempt to plan for the future. Even after a working lifetime involved in tourism, like so many others, we simply are not sufficiently qualified to
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For decades, this week has traditionally marked the start of the critical winter season where visitor arrivals and occupancy soar and when many of our hotels and tourism enterprises achieve their most lucrative rates, which during normal times, significantly contributes to absorbing operational costs during the longer softer summer season. While the introduction of a Covid-19 vaccine has offered hope
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I want to return to the subject of implementing a single source website for prospective investors, especially those of a smaller scale, both from overseas and locally. Frankly, even for the most determined and tenacious, investing in Barbados remains a daunting task for virtually everyone when so much could be made easier, less time consuming and completed online. It starts
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