Tourism has been one of the sectors most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This once-in-a-century event has generated the worst demand shock in tourism’s recorded history. One year into the pandemic, demand for hotel rooms and cruise trips are yet to recover. In tourism-dependent countries like Barbados, companies are struggling to survive. The … [Read more...] about What’s next for Barbados’ tourism industry?
Barbados
Time to Pivot: The Caribbean as a World Leader
Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley believes the Caribbean can be a global leader in technology and innovation. In an inspiring message at the launch of the first Pivot Event, Prime Minister Mottley called on Caribbean people to shed their lack of cultural confidence for the region to take its place as a global leader. “We must have the cultural confidence to develop … [Read more...] about Time to Pivot: The Caribbean as a World Leader
When Facing a Black Swan, Let’s Work Together
COVID-19 in Barbados is proving to be a perfect example of what Nassim Nicholas Taleb termed a “black swan”. It is a rare event, with an extreme impact and which, in retrospect, could have been predicted. As discussed in our latest Caribbean Quarterly Report July 2020, the pandemic reached Barbados in March 2020 and has since been putting both lives and livelihoods at stake in … [Read more...] about When Facing a Black Swan, Let’s Work Together
Barriers to Financial Access in Barbados—Key Challenges and Focal Areas for Reform
The mobilization of domestic financial resources is increasingly recognized as an important development challenge for countries around the world—this is also true for Barbados. Barriers to financial access act as a brake on private sector investment and growth, with adverse implications for broader economic development objectives. In order to shed light on this issue, our … [Read more...] about Barriers to Financial Access in Barbados—Key Challenges and Focal Areas for Reform
Four key reforms to bring back economic growth to Barbados
It has often been said that times of crisis can often lead to opportunity for change. Barbados is no stranger to this concept, having faced macroeconomic challenges during the past decade, including low growth, high government spending compared to revenue collection, elevated debt levels and declining international reserves (see Figures 1 to 4). This has led to an ambitious set … [Read more...] about Four key reforms to bring back economic growth to Barbados