Barbados has experienced a notable increase in business travelers during the current year. The latest monthly bulletin released by the Barbados Statistical Service (BSS) highlights a rise in the number of tourists visiting the country for business purposes and to attend conferences. This trend aligns with the global scenario, where business travel is rebounding so robustly from the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic that it is expected to outpace leisure travel recovery by next month, as reported by international travel data analytics provider, ForwardKeys, which relies on the most comprehensive and up-to-date flight ticketing data available.
Specifically focusing on Barbados, the BSS visitor arrival data for March reveals that 12% of visitors during the first quarter traveled for business or conference purposes. This marks an increase from the 9% recorded during the same period last year. Business and conference visitors constituted the second largest group after those visiting for recreational purposes, accounting for 83% of the total in the first quarter of this year. In comparison, the number of people traveling to Barbados for business or conferences increased significantly from 10,022 in the first quarter of last year to 19,006 between January and March this year, an increase of 8,984 individuals.
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On the global front, Olivier Ponti, the Vice President of Insights at ForwardKeys, revealed that throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, business travel flight bookings had been slower to recover compared to leisure travel. However, he noted that the situation is likely to change soon. As of May 30th, the trend indicates that business travel recovery will surpass that of leisure travel in July. Currently, business flight bookings are 14% lower than the pre-pandemic levels of 2019, while leisure bookings trail by 16%. Moreover, this gap is expected to widen in the autumn, with business bookings for September being only 1% behind 2019 levels, while leisure bookings are 8% behind.
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Ponti added that although the recovery trend could still favor leisure travel if there is a late surge in summer holiday bookings, rising inflation, including increased prices for hospitality and airline tickets, makes such an outcome unlikely. The projected growth in business travel, coupled with the gradual relaxation of travel restrictions, suggests a positive trajectory for the Barbadian economy as it welcomes more visitors for business and conference purposes in the coming months.
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