Never a factor that can be discounted in Barbados’ ongoing assessment of its tourism fortunes from one season to the next, airlift capacity, remains central to the CARICOM member country’s economy. Unavoidably, the issue of some of the dynamics that impact visitor arrivals remain a standard item in discourses regarding the state of the state of the tourism sector. Airlift capacity, an issue that surfaces with monotonous regularity would appear, once again, to be occupying a prominent place on the wider tourism industry agenda.
“It’s the same this year as it has been in previous years,” is the recurring message from the Central Bank of Barbados as staff emerge from meetings with airlift on the agenda. Other issues that are commonly ventilated at these meetings include long-stay visitor trends and economic growth, according to the Monday February 17 issue of the Barbados Nation. The issue of the inextricable link between tourism and the overall state of health of the Barbados economy is a factor which neither the Barbados government nor the country’s populace, as a whole, ever lose sight of, so that the post-Covid 19 pandemic and the attendant recovery in airlift capacity, still remains one of the brighter sparks to impact the sector in recent years, Indeed, the post-Covid revival of the country’s tourism sector has been, for Barbados, a piece of good fortune that could easily be equated with successive seasons of record returns across the key crops in Guyana’s agriculture sector.
Accordingly, the recovery in the state of health of airlift capacity has been something of a shot-in-the-arm for an economic sector that has, hitherto, been functioning in a state of jitteriness in recent years, Now that the airlift capacity is, seemingly behind one of region’s most heavily tourism-dependent islands in the region, the Nation newspaper report alludes to “economic turbulence in key source markets for visitors” which it says could pose another worrisome challenge for the tourism sector. “The recovery in airlift capacity post-pandemic underpins future growth opportunities. Enhanced airlift has been instrumental in boosting Barbados’ visitor arrivals and supporting the broader economy,” the Central Bank has said in its overall assessment of the current situation.
It goes further, asserting that “source markets” for the sector are confronted with varying economic challenges that could impact future demand, adding that if the country (Barbados) is to sustain its tourism sector it must continuously refine its tourism strategies to align with evolving market trends and visitor preferences. ”Strengthening partnerships with international carriers will also be critical to maintaining long-term growth in arrivals and ensuring the resilience of the tourism sector,” the Barbados Central Bank is counselling. With tourism having been the bulwark of the Barbados economy for more than half a century, serving as the country’s critical driver of economic growth and foreign exchange earnings (the sector reportedly contributes an average of 50 per cent of the country’s export revenues), Barbados would appear to have no option but to spare no pains in holding on to a tourism sector, its notorious volatility notwithstanding.
