Barbados is a well-known winter getaway – a sun, sea, and sand destination. However, Robert Chase, CEO of Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI), says there is so much more to the island. In this interview, he discusses initiatives to encourage visitors to engage in more community-based tourism and discover Barbados’ rich culture, food and history. He also talks about events such as ‘We Gatherin’ 2020’ and the Crop Over festival (the island’s own “mini carnival”); Barbados’ plan to become a regional hub for tourism, trade and investment; and the impact of Lufthansa’s new Frankfurt-Bridgetown route, which has caused a massive surge in arrivals from Germany and neighboring countries

You were recently appointed acting CEO of BTMI and you oversee the most important economic driver of your nation – tourism. Can you provide the key facts and figures that best illustrate the importance of tourism to the economy?

Tourism has continued to grow at significant rates over the last five years, at a time when the economy was struggling for various reasons. Because of the impact of the 2008 recession, the economy wasn’t able to re-attain the level of growth that was desirable. However, tourism continued to grow significantly. We’ve had year-on-year growth for the last five years, and this year we estimate that we’ll finish with 5.1% growth in tourism arrivals. Tourism has continued to be the mainstay economic driver in a period of flat growth, and is all the more important in terms of foreign exchange generation and as a prime rate foreign exchange generator. Tourism represents around 12% of our GDP, but really when you extend that to how the tourism dollar flows through the economy, it gets closer to making a 45% indirect contribution to GDP.

We can look at the impact in terms of how the visitor begins to move off into the community. While in the past tourism has been very much a shoreline activity, with the beaches and restaurants, etc., we now recognize that the visitor comes to Barbados looking for a home-away-from-home. Because it’s a very safe destination (in fact in 2018 we were voted the safest destination in the Caribbean), visitors feel free to roam across the landscape of Barbados. In that way, the visitor is able to go in and engage with small communities, meaning the tourism dollar stretches quite far. 

Can you tell us more about your German brand campaign, ‘The Island of Good Living’?

‘The Island of Good Living’ that we refer to in the brand campaign is very much about the quality of life. It isn’t just about luxury; it’s about an appreciation of the simpler things in life. And that leads back to the family and community values we have here in Barbados.

These family and community values are something that the prime minister is trying to encourage with the ‘We Gatherin’ 2020’ initiative, for which she has called to the diaspora to get involved. You’ve launched several celebrations throughout the year as part of We Gatherin’. Can you tell us more about that?

The We Gatherin’ 2020 campaign is the prime minister’s initiative to get all hands on deck, both Barbadians at home and abroad, to contribute to the redevelopment and the reinvigoration of Barbados. We have a proud history of punching above our weight. We’ve managed to achieve a presence on the world stage beyond our size. But we need to get back to the level of economic success that we’ve had before. And who better to help us with that than the people who love Barbados the most. I’m talking about both Barbadians abroad and friends of Barbados – those people that have been coming here over the years and would like to see the quality of life that we’ve achieved here sustained. In that process of bringing home the diaspora, we’re saying that tourism is not just about the beach and turquoise waters; it’s about meeting the people, engaging with the people, and the people don’t live just on the coastline. We are driving the tourism effort inward, into the community. We have a number of community events taking place. Barbados is made up of 11 parishes, so each month, a different parish will have a series of community-based events that people can come and experience. They can come and experience the food, the people and see what Barbadian life is about – see what ‘The Island of Good Living’ is all about.

You also want to position Barbados as a regional hub, in terms of having visitors from Europe come for a few days before going on to discover the rest of the Caribbean. Is that the plan?

Barbados is positioned as the most easterly island in the Caribbean chain. Therefore, we are naturally a jumping-off point for connectivity – for Africa, Europe, South America, and North America. We very much see ourselves as a potential hub, not only for destination tourism and travel, but also with regards to air cargo and other types of trade and investment. So you can come to Barbados as that first point and then develop your investment opportunities further into the Caribbean, or into Central America or South America. We see Barbados very much as a potential hub. We’ve actually been working with Africa as well. The prime minister has recently established bilateral relationships in terms of air travel with Ghana and Kenya. Similarly, we are building our footprint, in terms of air connectivity, with Europe. Lufthansa flying out of Frankfurt is one of the most recent and significant new connections and represents greater connectivity to Europe as a whole for us. And we see that as a great opportunity.

Can you tell us more about promoting Barbados as a year-round destination?

That whole idea of year-round visitation is very important to us. While the winter season is still a high season for us because it’s a time when people from Europe and North America want to escape the cold weather, people have come to recognize that cultural travel is very important. We have a UNESCO world heritage site, which is an attraction point; we have Crop Over, which is like our mini carnival that is often attended by Rihanna.

People are not only coming for winter sun, but they are also coming to experience Crop Over or other cultural aspects; they come for the food; they come to experience the people and see the UNESCO world heritage site. They can come to understand all the different things that made Barbados a pivotal point in the sugar trade and its links with slavery. They can come and learn the history, which is not always a pleasant history, but it still needs to be understood and it gives an insight into the human experience. And Barbados was a pivotal point in the evolution of trade during those colonial times.

Barbados has received several awards and regional and global ranking nominations in recent years. Can you highlight a few of what you feel have been the most important accolades?

We are proud to have received a number of globally recognized accolades that really serve as a testament to Barbados’ status as a world-class destination with a wide and unique offering. For example, we were chosen as one of the ‘50 Best Places to Travel in 2020’ by Travel & Leisure; while Carib Journal named Barbados ‘Wellness Destination of the Year’ 2019, which was a huge honor. Also in 2019, we won the Travvy Award (including Best Honeymoon Destination in the Caribbean/Bahamas). In 2018, as recognition for our top-class accommodation offerings, Barbados won the Travelers’ Choice Awards for accommodation in 13 categories; while we were also named the ‘Star Winter Sun Destination’ at the Travel Bulletin Star Awards 2018 in the U.K.

What has been the impact of the new Lufthansa route from Frankfurt to Bridgetown?

We’ve had tremendous success with it and we’ve seen over 100% growth in traffic out of Germany this year as a consequence of the new Lufthansa flight, which flies thrice weekly. But those fights are not only giving a significant increase in visitation from Germany. As Frankfurt is such a massive transit point for other European countries, we’re also seeing increased visitation from other countries, such as Italy and France. So it has been a significant game-changer for us. Lufthansa is proving to be a very strong partner. We’re hoping they will expand their schedule into the summer season and begin to expand it into a year-round service.

Turning, then, to some of the things that are new that may encourage German visitors to come here. As we talked about the We Gatherin’ event, part of that is also focused on helping Barbados to get back to punching above its weight. And one of the initiatives the Prime Minister has undertaken is to plant a million trees on 166 square miles. Now that is quite a significant undertaking for a country of our size. But we are encouraging our visitors to come and help us with that because we know German tourists are very conscious when it comes to environmental factors and preserving this planet of ours. And they are conscious about offsetting their carbon footprint. So we’re telling them to come and plant a tree and help us to be part of the process to make the world a better place.

While you have the opportunity to come and enjoy our great food, our great culture, our great beaches and sunshine, at the same time you have the chance to have a memorable moment where you can say: ‘I traveled across the ocean and contributed to helping the planet live a little longer and help us to be a better people.’