Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Senator Lisa Cummins, said several initiatives aimed at reinvigorating the tourism sector were currently being planned, including future investment into a new convention centre.
She was speaking on Sunday during a thanksgiving service to commemorate the start of Barbados Tourism week, held at the Sanctuary Empowerment Centre in Country Road, St Michael.
Further referencing the current hotel project at Sam Lord’s Castle, the minister assured that the newest hotel, the Wyndham, would be open by year end.
She added that it would have a seating capacity of 700 people and place Barbados in a position to attract more meetings, conventions and international conferences. It was expected to fill the gap for any conference space lost at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.
“The Wyndham facility is perhaps the exemplar of what Barbados represents. It is the old Sam Lord’s Castle which is going to be preserved side by side a brand new hotel – a little bit of the old, a little bit of the new and bringing all together to represent what Barbados is and what we represent as a people” she said.
Also in attendance were Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI), Jens Thraenhart; Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association, Geoffrey Roach; Ralph Bizzy Williams of Williams Industries; his wife Shelly who is chairman of the BTMI board, and Cummins’ husband, Selwyn Cambridge, founder and Creative Director of TEN Habitat. (JK)