Europe tourism needs innovation, investment, and broad social engagement

Thursday, February 14, 2019

As per the Central Bank of Barbados, the tourism output of the island declined in 2018 to an estimated 0.6 percent in spite of there being a 2.8 percent rise in terms of visitor arrivals last year. The reasons cited were that visitors were spending in lesser amount; some didn’t stay long, and cruise ship calls had decreased.

The report emphasized a comment by the President of the Barbados Economic Society, Simon Naitram that if tourism is to be a possible source in terms of broad-based financial development, then the industry needs to develop. The figures were kind of an early warning about the formation of the tourism industry and the need for “innovation, investment, and broad social engagement.”

The remarks of Mr Naitram and Barbados’ Central Bank figures have to give pause for thought all over the region about the structure of an industry which governments gauge by the number of arrivals rather than the overall value of the sales of goods and services it generates.

Most governments in the region have taken the continuing economic contribution of tourism for granted, couldn’t succeed in many cases to identify how traveler’s thinking and choices are changing.

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