Barbados tourism officials were expressing concerns at the level of visitor arrivals indicating that the high interest showed during the winter season has not been mirrored in the summer, even with the return of annual Crop Over festival.
“As we look forward we are aware that summer will be a challenge given that inbound passenger flights for all markets in the period June to October 2022 are down by 29 per cent and this is compared to our last normal year 2019. Inbound seats to the island for that same period are down 37.4 per cent” the chairperson of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) Renee Coppin said.
Coppin said that the upcoming summer months presented the biggest challenge, even as she maintained that there was a need for Barbados’ summer offerings to visitors to be significantly improved.
Barbados will be hosting the annual Crop Over for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic with both the Grand Kadooment and Foreday Morning , two of the biggest events of the Festival, returning after last being held in 2019.
