Horror story beyond your imagination

"LAMENTING THAT BARBADOS’ tourism now seemed “like a horror story that has been just beyond your imagination”,  Opposition Leader Mia Mottley said yesterday it was not beyond Barbados’ capacity to make the industry soar by attracting a million land-based tourists by 2020.

Mottley told the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association’s (BHTA) annual general meeting yesterday that there could be no economic recovery in Barbados without a tourism turnaround; and if her Barbados Labour Party held the Government, it would bring in a million tourists in seven years instead of only increasing visitors by 5 000 in ten years.

Going back to 2003, she said Barbados had merely moved from 531 211 long-stay visitors to 536 303 in 2012 , while Aruba had in the same period gone from 641 906 to 903 934 visitors – a 300 000 increase.

She said, however, the million-visitor mark could be achieved by increasing the island’s average occupancy from 60 to 85 per cent, while mobilizing capital to facilitate investment and building another 800 rooms by 2017-2018."


Source: Mia sets sights on 1m tourists -- NationNews Barbados:

'via Blog this'

Royal Caribbean Orders Third Quantum Class Ship

 Notwithstanding a disastrous fire at sea earlier this week which left passengers and crew shaken, Royal Caribbean today ordered yet another megaship to take you cruising the oceans:

"Make that three Quantum class ships that are on the way at Royal Caribbean.

The line today announced it had signed a contract with Germany's Meyer Werft shipyard for a third vessel in the much-awaited new series that will begin debuting next year.

"We are encouraged by the very positive response we received from travel agents and consumers when we first announced some of the unprecedented offerings on Quantum class last month," Royal Caribbean president and CEO Adam Goldstein says in a statement accompanying the announcement. "The Quantum class will offer vacationers more unexpected activities in the most extraordinary spaces, and a third ship will offer even more opportunities for vacationers to experience Quantum cruising."

The as-yet-unnamed new ship will join the Royal Caribbean fleet in mid-2016, the line says. The first two vessels in the series, Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas, are scheduled to debut in fall 2014 and spring 2015, respectively.

As Royal Caribbean announced in April, the 4,180-passenger ships will have a number of innovative new features including giant mechanical arms that transports passengers high above the vessels in glass capsules.

The new order is subject to financing, the line says."

Source: USA Today

Drop In Fly-And-Flop Hurting Land Of The Flying Fish

Mullins Beach - May 2013

"Britons travelling long haul are beginning to forsake traditional seven-night beach holidays in favour of packing different experiences into one trip. That is the conclusion drawn by Hayes and Jarvis in its latest Long Haul Trend Report, which reveals that the destinations making waves in 2013 are ones which lend themselves to a combination of city, beach and culture or heritage tours."

"Sean Dowd, Hayes and Jarvis Head of Commercial, said “While off-the-peg beach packages are still popular – especially four and five-star All Inclusive ones, there is no doubting the steady decline in demand for traditional fly-and-flop beach holidays. In sharp contrast, our multi-centre trip bookings have doubled over the past two years because growing numbers of people are keen to see more of what a country – or a region of the world – has to offer when they travel further afield.  Multi-centre trips now account for over a third of our business and this growth trend is one which we expect to accelerate.”"

"The drop-off in demand experienced by the Maldives has been even more marked in the major Caribbean Islands, continuing a trend first noted by Hayes and Jarvis in its February Trend Report.  Barbados (-51%), and Antigua (-58%) have seen the biggest drops but their pain has been Tobago and the Dominican Republic’s gain..."

Read more: Holidaymakers pack more experiences into one trip as single centre stays decline in favour of multi-centres

Weather could prove deadly for thousands more ...

"UK's coldest spring since 1963 claims 5,000 lives: Pensioners worst affected - and experts say final toll could be 'horrendous'2,000 extra deaths registered in just the first two weeks of March And for February, 3,057 extra deaths registered in England and Wales Campaigners warn weather could prove deadly for thousands more..."

Read more: Barbados TravelAdvisor • View topic - Weather could prove deadly for thousands more ...

Harlequin House Of Cards Tumbling

"A businessman accused of taking £300 million of British investors’ money – and failing  to build thousands of luxury properties – could be forced to stop trading this week.

Former bankrupt David Ames is alleged to have collected millions of pounds for ambitious building projects in the Caribbean and Brazil, but less than 300 properties have so far been built.

Legal papers will be lodged at the High Court in Birmingham on Tuesday to freeze the assets of Harlequin Property and its directors in an attempt to claw back money for worried investors.

It is understood that Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs’ pensions regulator is also poised to act if a judge’s ruling is made on Friday.

A Mail on Sunday investigation has discovered that Harlequin Property – which has paid tennis star Pat Cash to feature in its promotional material – last month failed to make interest payments to investors who took out loans for deposits.

Now hundreds of financial advisers, who convinced investors to cash in their pensions, have been given just two days by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to confirm if any of their clients have SIPP investments in the Essex-based firm, and a further three days to provide all details.

SIPPs are a personal pension plan allowing individuals to cash in their pension to invest in schemes such as property abroad." 

 

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Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2287140/Tycoon-accused-taking-300m-British-investors-faces-freeze-assets-failing-build-luxury-homes.html#ixzz2MWIYuqTv