Optimistic Winter Season for Barbados in the Offing

Things are looking encouraging for this island’s tourism sector for the winter season this year. This is according to Outgoing Caribbean Regional Manager of Virgin Atlantic, Nick Parker who spoke with the media at the reception to bid him farewell recently at the residence of the British High Commissioner to Barbados.

“Yeah, they are looking good. I mean that we did well last year, but we just built on last year’s success. Obviously we introduced the new aircraft at that point, so yeah, things are looking good for the season ahead.”

He said that from their projections, things are looking very positive and from all appearances, there would be a definite increase in arrivals from last year. This is thanks to their 747 as well as their A330, which when combined, can meet the demands of the current market.

“Winter loads, our projections look very, very positive and they are ahead of last year. So I think we are looking good for the winter season ahead. And the great thing is that the way that we can blend the 747 which obviously has a far higher seating capacity than the A330, means that we can really optimize the number of seats that we are bringing here to match the demands of the market.”

The Outgoing Caribbean Head stated that in spite of the competition coming from other destinations, Barbados and the rest of the region still has an edge because these islands have something exceptional that they can offer both repeat visitors and new tourists. These prospects can only get better with major hotel brands like Sandals coming on board as this in turn would have a positive effect for their aircraft.

“There are a lot of great destinations coming up around the world but Barbados and the whole Caribbean has got a unique experience about it. All we have to do is make sure that the hotel product matches the experience and the expectations of the customer, so when you get a brand like Sandals coming in it is going to be great for Barbados. Of course that is great news for us as an airline because you know, clearly the more demand that we can stimulate here the better it gets for our flights and our capacity in the future. Yeah, so we really are encouraged by how things are looking at the moment.”

Source: The Barbados Advocate