Sometimes I think I'm living on the planet Zontar instead of in Bridgetown, Barbados.
Our old friend and hotel owner Adrian Loveridge is at it again – pointing out that the Emperor has no clothes…
This time, Mr. Loveridge dares to mention that the Barbados Tourism Authority is promoting vacation packages to American visitors that will result in a loss with each one sold. The more Americans visit Barbados, the more money will be lost.
Huh?
A sample from Mr. Loveridge's letter to Caribbean Net News…
It was with absolute incredulity that we recently received notification that the Barbados Tourism Authority has yet again resurrected the highly discounted Best of Barbados programme in our second largest market (United States) for this summer…
And perhaps most worrying of all, considering the use of taxpayers monies, and that this is the only national initiative, it should be noted that in order to participate in the programme you will need to have a rate of at least US$80 per night …
Forget the daily free full breakfasts, the free night�s accommodation, the two (2) three course dinners at a variety of restaurants and various other offerings substantially diluting revenue, just ask yourself one question!
How many of 160 plus registered hotels, guest houses and apartments, including the over 100 small properties on Barbados, can command a tour operator rate of US$80 per room per night in the summer months?
Based on a net room rate of US$80 per night with two sharing lets compare the revenue produced.
(see letter for calculations)…
So even if we attracted 20,000 Best of Barbados visitors, there would be an overall loss of US$1.3 million.
As opposed to a net gain of US$7.7 million, if the same number booked directly at normal prices!
Yet five years after 9/11, with all the combined creativity of our industry policymakers the only thing that they come up with is selling our product below its actual cost.
…read the entire letter at Caribbean Net News
