The value of that domestic spending was estimated at UK Pounds 22.7 billion which equated to an average spend of UK pounds 51 per night. 63% of the total figure (87 million) was on holidays, which represented UK Pounds 14.5 billion or 64% of the overall spending.

The study also found that people were taking more short breaks. Nearly twice as many holidays of one to three nights (56 million) were taken last year compared with 30 million trips of four or more nights.

While perhaps you cannot directly compare the travel and holiday trends of the United Kingdom with Barbados or the Caribbean generally, I just wonder if our policymakers are overlooking the potential for domestic tourism. Isn’t it perhaps better to allocate even a tiny marketing budget to promoting our tourism product to the people on our doorstep?

Efforts to create a ‘100% Bajan’ brand for Barbadian manufacturers appear to have some successes, but would it not be equally wise to include our number one industry?

Adrian Loveridge
Barbados