Dominica Looking To Establish Greater Ties With Barbados
Barbadian tour operator and travel agents got the opportunity to meet with a Dominican trade team on Monday at the Savannah Hotel, to discuss what Dominica has to offer as a tourist destination. The mission, which is the first of such missions to Barbados, started last week in Tortola. “We are going all the way to Trinidad, stopping in various islands (of which Barbados is one),” said Elizabeth Wayland, Head of Marketing of the Discover Dominica Tourism Authority. “We are basically doing our promotions in all the islands that we visit.” “Our mission in Barbados is to sensitize Barbadians mainly tour operators and travel agents about Dominica particularly our upcoming world Creole music festival,” she said. She admitted to not being aware of any previous Barbados-Dominica relations. “That is one of the things that we are really trying to improve on, because Barbados and Dominica are two opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of our tourism product: Barbados has the sun, sea and sand, we have the adventure and nature.” Wayland revealed that they are looking into offering a twin package with a location lie Barbados to compliment our differences in tourism packages. “If we could have people come and enjoy a visit to Barbados and then have them have a different experience in Dominica that would be ideal.” However, some travel agents present indicated that there are various difficulties for locals opting to travel to Dominica including lack of direct access. Since there is no direct flight to Dominica from Barbados, visitors generally have to first make a stop in neighbouring Guadeloupe of Martinique by the Caribbean airline. This according to them, may divert potential visitors to a neighbouring island, especially around the time of their carnival, when flights to the island are usually booked solid. Dominica, which had plans to construct a new international airport, instead renovated their existing airport and recently lost the access of one of their two local airports temporarily due to renovations being conducted. (NC)
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