BHTA 4TH QUARTERLY MEETING ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Transcription

1 BHTA 4TH QUARTERLY MEETING ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT 10 th December 2014

2 GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE A state of perpetual geopolitical crisis remains Russia, Ukraine, Europe, Middle East, Syria and Israel, etc. Oil prices stable for the past three years and now at a new low US Economy a mixed bag! a slow recovery although spending is flat. Increases in grocery and fuel prices are placing pressure on low and middle household budgets Canada Recession did not have such a major impact on the Canadian economy due to strong banking regime Currency fluctuation in the third quarter now stabilized Consumer confidence growing

3 GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE UK Economy projected to grow by 3.2% in 2014 up from 1.7% in Rapid growth is resulting in job creation unemployment has fallen to its lowest level since the height of the financial crisis in 2008 Inflation is expected to remain low Abolition of APD for children 12yrs and under from May 2015 and a promise to eliminate the APD for children 16 yrs of age and under May Alleviates costs for family vacations. Adds to the reduction of 26 pounds from 1 st April 2015 for adults Eurozone Improving slowly Projected modest growth of regional GDP of 1% with Germany at 1.8% Brazil Economy forecast a 4th year of sub-par growth with 2014 GDP revised downwards to an avg. of 1.8%

4 STATE OF THE INDUSTRY The long stay arrivals for the month of November showed an increase of 6.3%, with significant growth in the UK market of 8.8% and in Germany of 14.%. The long stay arrivals YTD to end of November showed a minimal increase of 0.1% over 2013 which is considered as flat. For the first week of December increase of 71% for Canada, US 15.3% and the UK 35.4% UK arrivals for 2014 YTD are higher than 2012 by 8,979 persons New initiatives were introduced this year for the UK market namely Barbados Summertastic and Barbados Days replacing the BII and only offering the VIP card. Created top of mind awareness of the destination for both consumers and trade.

5 STATE OF THE INDUSTRY Forward bookings are looking positive for the winter & there will be a clearer picture for 2015, having met with partners at CHTA Marketplace after the prime booking period from Dec 26 th to Jan 30 th New product is coming on stream the eagerly awaited opening in January A new luxury villa project that will commence in the new year at Settlers The breaking ground of Hyatt hotel in March The opening of Port Ferdinand Improvements to the product continue Accra beach has reconfigured their front lobby and restaurant, Colony Club has refurbished more rooms, Bougainvillea has completed a major renovation to the property

6 AIRLIFT UPDATE The first AC series arrived at GAIA Inc on 1st December and will fly through April 2015 on maybe even longer if we can manage to keep the loads high! 52% increase in capacity with AC AC s 65th Anniversary of service to Barbados was celebrated yesterday and we continue that theme today JetBlue has placed their newest aircraft A321 with 190 seats on the route for Barbados. The additional flight added in June remains moving forward Delta Returned to the shores of Barbados with the first flight from New York and one from Atlanta landing on 4th December Condor three flights per week for the Winter season BA increasing flights to 12 per week for winter

7 CRUISE UPDATE The projected passenger arrivals for the end of this year is 690K which will be an increase of 4% over the total for In 2015 the Britannia (UK) and the new Mein Schiff 3 (Germany) and Fred Olsen (UK) will be visiting Barbados. Two of the ships have a carrying capacity of 4K passengers each. These ships will Homeport in Barbados and this will increase the home porting numbers for Barbados significantly Quantum of the Seas, the 3rd largest cruise ship in the world sailed to Barbados on Sunday - Capacity of 5k passengers and 1,500 crew Position of a Cruise Director has been advertised for BTMI

8 ADVOCACY Concessions for the hotel sector Pleased to announce that the legislation granting the concessions for hotels for all consumables & food and beverage became law having been published in the official Gazette on 13 th November. The Government Printers only printed the latest edition e.g., 13th November on Monday of this week so up until then the hotels were UNABLE to obtain the concessions even though passed in parliament 21 st October A system to operationalize the concessions is being tested between now and the end of the year & in the early part of the New year this system will be implemented for all concerned. A training session for the system will be organised

9 ADVOCACY Reduction in the rate of VAT to 7.5% for DTS It was verbally agreed that the criteria to register for this reduction should be calculated on 75% revenue from tourism rather than 75% revenue in foreign exchange. However the act has to be amended to reflect this change and this has been raised with the MOF&EA and the MOT&IT To date only 6 companies have been able to register for the reduced VAT rate

10 ADVOCACY National Tourism Host Program Barbados Together NTHP was launched on 4 th October A unit within the BPTA has been established headed by Marsha Alleyne Training for BHTA, BTMI, BTPA and MOT&IT staff will be conducted re the NTHP in the new year Linkages MIF linking MSE s to anchor companies in the Barbados Hotel Value Chain. This is a 4 year project that will commence in January 2015 Project seeks to integrate local MSEs farmers into the supply chain of hotels & restaurants

11 MARKETING IMEX 2014 Las Vegas 12 person delegation, conducted over 100 individual appointments & 6 group presentations Financed by TDC,BTMI,BHTA and partners Over US$130K business signed on the booth & a projection of a further US$5M for Interest from India Birmingham Dive Show 4 Dive shops attended Dive packages offered & great interest from cruise ship passengers

12 MARKETING Barbados Days 4 major T/Op visited Kuoni, Thomas Cook, Virgin Holidays and Carib Tours. Week ended with a Mini Unite Barbados took over the offices, sales and res staff WTM Smaller presence but a dramatic booth in a prime location Barbados is always busy and buzzing

13 MARKETING Classical Pops 11 th to 14 th December music celebration showcasing various musical genres, Jazz, pop Caribbean and Latin sounds with innovative collaboration with a classical inspiration. Over 80 musicians from Boston Pops and New York Phil. Making Barbados their winter home with have Michael with us today to highlight this amazing event Race of Champions (ROC) at Bushy Park ROC is the world renowned knockout motor sport event featuring some of the world greatest drivers from all racing events and so much more!

14 BBN SERVICING THE INDUSTRY New Booking Engine Design In 2015 a new booking engine will be rolled out designed to increase conversions by improving the user experience. Design and Promotion of Packages Continued improvements are expected in payment terms and functionality. New packages will be added island-wide that will receive widespread promotion with press releases and increased marketing efforts. Travel Agent Portal The rate plan and site already exists for hotels to load and manage rates for Travel Agents. On going work on a portal that is more user-friendly for the agents to make and track reservations done via BookBarbadosNow.com. Villas Efforts will be focused on finding a solution for booking villas on BookBarbadosNow.com that will be beneficial for all stakeholders

15 BBN SERVICING THE INDUSTRY Packaging Launch October 2014 Packages offer another edge on the competition by allowing the site to sell products that are unique and showcase what Barbados has to offer. Packages have been loaded for all hotels. They all include different attractions that showcase the island (i.e. Nature Lovers, Adventure, etc.) & feature some activity providers that have rates loaded for 2015 BookBarbadosNow.com has a new look! The homepage was redesigned and launched in November & now features a more prominent booking engine and additional information about Barbados.

16 RESEARCH MOU with UWI and the BHTA Is in final draft and will be signed in January. This relationship will allow the Association to have a greater knowledge base when advocating for the industry & at the same time expose future employees to the workings of the sector TWG (Tourism Working Group) The TWG is to be re-convened and the first meeting is to be held in January CBB, Statistical Dept, BTMI, CTO, BHTA, MT&IT

17 MEMBERSHIP We welcome 6 new members in this quarter: The Adulo Apartments Combined Aquatics Ltd (overseas member) Emma Corrie Designs Satya Enterprises Eco Breeze Environment Insurance Corporation of Barbados Ltd.

18 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT Leadership 21 Leading a world class workforce. A competency-based leadership development initiative of the BHTA and The Potter Centre funded by the CBTF 77 pax. participated in the first three cohorts and 40 are registered in advance for the next cohorts commencing in May 2015 register with Janelle 52 persons attended the Mosquito Vector training conducted with the MOH to assist with the eradication of the mosquitoes. The presentation and check list can be viewed on the BHTA website A Training needs assessment will be conducted with the membership in the New year.

19 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT Future of tourism in the hands of the youth and every opportunity must be given to those aspiring to join this wonderful tourism industry The BHTA is pleased to announce that 3 annual scholarships in the amount of Bds$5K per person for persons wishing to obtain a BSc. in Tourism Studies will be launched for The STEP committee will develop the criteria for awarding the scholarships and the full details will be published in the first quarter of 2015

20 SAFETY AND SECURITY A number of in depth security audits of hotels have been carried out by Station Sgt. Stephen Griffith - if you require an audit please advise Kathy-Ann A new Safety flyer is currently being printer in partnership with the MOT&IT and Crime Stoppers available from Secretariat 19 th December Insp. Margaret Stephen will conduct security training in April 2015

21 ST. LAWRENCE GAP Major tourism belt & centre for night life One of the ten points listed by the MOT&IT Challenges re the product and state of the gap Lighting, garbage, disrepair, foliage New committee set up in the BHTA Asked ach member to assess their space Met with a number of Government ministries and entities Moving forward we will be working with BTPA

22 TOURISM FUND Level of participation is still low We need every property to come on board it is simple! Now more than ever the necessity of maximising the collection of funds is critical Funding activities such as marketing for BBN.com, trade shows, WTM, marketing consultant, garrison, sporting activities, St. Lawrence Gap, staycations etc.

23 DUCKS IN A ROW! Additional Airlift is in place Cruise is seeing new ships and growth Concessions for the hotels have been legislated and will be available from the beginning of the New year Investment is encouraging Marketing initiatives are being developed Critical to be able to place all the required resources, be it financial or human into the various markets in order to maintain and grow the markets competition is tough! Realise the expectation improve the level of service, the product and the experience and we can all win! Imperative to remain focused & to be positive & to work together in TRUE partnership We must become the change we wish to create. Gandhi

24 Thank you ALL Happy Christmas and a successful and healthy New Year to all!