This country’s Minister of Tourism, Richard Sealy, is currently leading a four-man delegation to North America to attend several business meetings which are aimed at boosting tourist arrivals to Barbados.

 

According to a senior tourism official: “The Minister is scheduled to meet with senior executives of key airlines with which Barbados wishes to enhance its current partnerships as well as establish new ones, such as Air Canada, American Airlines, Air Jamaica, WestJet and Zoom Airlines.

 

“Also on the itinerary will be meetings with major tour operator partners that drive tourist business to Barbados. These include Travel Impressions, American Express Vacations, GoGo Worldwide and Cheap Caribbean Travel,” he said.

 

Over the years, the United States has been an important source of visitors to Barbados, surpassed only by the United Kingdom. During the mid to late 1970s, Canada was the main market for visitors to Barbados, however, over the last two decades those numbers have diminished and that country is now ranked fourth in terms of arrivals.

 

The visit is expected to provide the delegation with an opportunity to develop and re-ignite ties with important stakeholders in the North American tourist market, particularly those in Toronto, New York and Miami.

 

The delegation, which left the island last weekend, includes Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Andrew Cox; President and Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Tourism Authority (BTA), Stuart Layne; and Chairman of the BTA, Ralph Taylor.

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