May 11, 2021
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by this author are their own and do not represent the official position of the Barbados Today Inc.
by Guy Hewitt
The frantic search for a CEO of the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI) is matched in recent memory only by the hunt for Winston Hall.
But this is no laughing matter for tourism is the lifeblood of our economy, accounting in 2019 for 36.2 per cent of GDP. Due to COVID-19, thousands of households: workers, managers and owners alike are under immense financial pressure but political interference is making a bad situation worse.
In 2019, William ‘Billy’ Griffith, the BTMI CEO credited with turning around Barbados’ tourism product and bringing record numbers of visitors, advised he was relinquishing his job to give the organisation an opportunity to recruit a new leader and ensure a smooth transition. This is now 2021 and still no one is in post. We can only presume that he was pushed.