TOURISMSPORTS

2014

LET’S PLAY OUR PARTTOURISM IS OUR BUSINESS

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Page 39 www.barbadostoday.bb 30/05/14

on the full impact the Top Gear motor sports weekend made on

vacationing in Barbados, but what is certain is that the effect

is positive and it can potentially alter the face of the island’s

tourism.

Arguably years will go by before anyone can properly quantify,

in terms of the numbers of visitors and dollars and cents, exactly

what the Top Gear festival did for Barbados. The chief reason is

because the thousands who came here specifically for that 17 -

18 May weekend festival to join the thousands, already visiting,

at Bushy Park represent a mere fraction of the millions of TV

viewers around the world who, may decide that Barbados is

the place be for their next vacation.

For motor heads, that decision may be easier since

for the next three years Top Gear will have a home in

Barbados. Just days after the festival, Tourism Minister,

Richard Sealy disclosed that the Barbados Tourism

Authority (BTA) had signed a three-year contract with

the producers of the Top Gear Festival for future events.

Speaking through the government media, the minister said

hosting the festival on an annual basis was a realistic expectation

since it was the first time that the Top Gear festival was held in

the Western Hemisphere.

“This is the first of what will be three editions in the first instance.

It is interesting to note, however, that producers of the festival

have already started to suggest that they would like to see it as

an annual event which happens elsewhere,” Sealy underlined.

“Top Gear is tremendously popular and that goes without

saying in terms of what we can get from the festival. But, since

we have had the head start and we have an exclusive [contract]

for three years, we have to make sure that the event goes so

wonderful that it would make them want to make it an annual

event,” Mr. Sealy emphasised.

He said more work is still to be done on the redeveloped

Bushy Park Racing Circuit for it to be, “the Mecca for

the region and viewed as one of the finest places to

Barbados may become a Top Gear home

have motor sports in the world. I think we have to have

that kind of vision in mind and we are on the way there”.

“There is no limit to what we can do for Barbados through the

motor sports/tourism fusion which we want to develop. We

have been at it for a while…we have had the June rally and

we used to have the Bushy Park event, I think in October, but

now we can take it to an entirely different level,” he added

He said that globally, nothing stands out like motor

sports, adding that with the more than 3,000 spectators

who came into the island for the event one could ‘move

big numbers’ in the staging of motor sports events.

“We are open to business. We cannot do Formula 1 here because

the track is not up to that standard. But we can do just about anything

else. The Red Bull Global Rallycross’ opening event for the 2014

season is being held here, the defending champion is here…Ken

Block is a legend in that field …That is an amazing accomplishment.

That tells you that if we can get Global Rally Cross here, imagine

when we finish Bushy Park what we can possibly get here.”

British Ambassador, Victoria Dean, also chimed in with praises for

Barbados’ hosting of the event.

“From the United Kingdom’s perspective, bringing Top Gear here

is a ‘genius idea.’ You can tell from the buzz around the island, the

fact that you could not get a rental car on the weekend…even the

people that actually attended on either day had a really fantastic

feeling about it and it is absolutely to the credit of Barbados that

you have decided to make this happen and to bring it here.”

Sports Minister, Stephen Lashley, pointed out that the

development of sports tourism in Barbados can be a private/

public sector partnership. “We have been able through Top Gear

to have a private sector investment focus where they actually

retook Bushy Park and were able to transform it into a facility that

allowed for Top Gear to come. Without that, we couldn’t host Top

Gear.”

While motor sports tourism continues building on the boost

of Top Gear, Lashley has begun speaking about other track

events, mentioning plans to redevelop the National Stadium. “A

modern stadium means that we can attract many more events

to Barbados. Our sports calendar is very packed not only in

relation to the usual track and field [events], but cycling has a

tremendously tight schedule. So, I would be hard pressed to see

the stadium not being utilised,” he added.

The Jury Is Out

Page 40 www.barbadostoday.bb 30/05/14

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LET’S PLAY OUR PART30/05/14 Page 41

This assertion can be found in the White Paper on the

development of tourism in Barbados, prepared by

Strategic Solutions Inc, for the Government of Barbados,

and approved in October, 2012.

Within its holistic examination of Barbados’ tourism and

areas needed for development this document, naturally

Sports Tourism came up for critical examination.

The following are extracts from the Paper’s findings on Sports Tourism:“It has a long history of sporting excellence, as numerous

world class athletes in several disciplines, particularly

cricket, have put the island on the world sporting map.

There are currently over 60 disciplines of sports practised

on the island. This makes the island a prime candidate

to be a viable and successful sports tourism destination.

With this strong base, the development of sports tourism

is one of the primary strategies being undertaken by the

Government to bolster the Barbadian economy, especially

during the tough periods

in the tourism season.

“Barbados boasts the

legacy of hosting a

number of world class

sports events over the

last five years. Such

events have included

the 2006 PGA World

Golf Championships,

the 2007 ICC Cricket

World Cup Finals, the

2010 Sentebale charity

polo match with Prince

Harry of Wales, “Tennis

Pon De Rock” featuring

Serena Williams and

Caroline Wozniacki in

2009 and Venus Williams

and Victoria Azarenka

and Gael Montfils and

John Isner in 2011, the

2010 Fireball World

Sailing Championships,

The Cricket Legends of

Barbados International

(CLOBI) Cup World

“Barbados is an island which has sports in its -DNA.”

A prime Sports Tourism candidate

Masters Tournament and the ICC Twenty20 Cricket Finals in

2010. This year, Barbados also hosted the inaugural Football

Legends Invitational Tournament 2011, which saw football stars

from several Premier League Clubs in action. One of the major

benefits of the sports tourism thrust is the added bonus of

harnessing the charitable spirit of international clubs and teams

that come to provide specific community coaching programmes,

for example, this occurred with Chelsea Football and the Dallas

Mavericks basketball teams.

“Major world class sporting events, are

important tourist attractions that can bring long lasting benefits

to a host city in terms of infrastructure improvements and

increased tourism. These types of events provide a huge one-

off opportunity to showcase Barbados to an unprecedented

number of visitors, and to persuade a significant proportion of

the planet‘s watching population that

they‘d like to visit the island in the

short to medium term. These types of

events do not just attract athletes and

fans to Barbados, but also provide an

opportunity for Barbados to expose

the country‘s other visitor attractions

– its rich heritage, vibrant culture and

beautiful land and seascapes – to a

captive world audience.

“Success in these endeavours will

require the upgrading and ongoing

maintenance of all sporting facilities.

The facilities for Polo and Golf are

typically world class and exemplify

the quality of product that is desired.

However, the biggest threat to the

development of the Sports tourism

niche is the unsatisfactory quality of

the various sports facilities on the

island. This is affecting the island‘s

capacity to be a summer training

base, or host more world class

tournaments and events, particularly

in the areas of cricket, hockey, tennis,

swimming and horse racing.

Page 42 www.barbadostoday.bb 30/05/14

“Cricket is the premier sport on the island. The iconic

Kensington Oval was transformed into an ultra modern

facility for the Cricket World Cup 2007. However, seating

capacity was reduced from 28,000 to just over 12,000.

This limits promoters in advertising the facility for hosting,

particularly soccer teams, because of the limited seating

capacity and the high cost associated with bringing a

high-end soccer team. Also, in order to sustain the demand

and persuade the English County Cricket teams to come

to Barbados as a preferred training destination, cricket

clubs will have to improve the condition of the grounds

to an acceptable level similar to that in some of Barbados‘

competing destinations like South Africa, Sri Lanka and

Australia. The island is in need of a modern soccer facility

and a proper turf facility for hockey with adequate seating

capacity. For example, the island has been losing many of

its schools and clubs from the international markets due to

the lack of adequate hockey facilities.

“Barbados has tremendous potential to capitalize on the

lucrative sports tourism niche. This will require better

collaboration and more effective synergies between the

relevant sporting entities such as the Ministry of Sports, the

National Sports Council, the Barbados Olympic Association,

Kensington Oval Management Inc., the University of the

West Indies, the Barbados Tennis Association and other

relevant local sporting associations, along with the BTA.

The upgrading of sports facilities to the required standard

on the island also has to take place as a matter of priority.

Investment in the upgrade or construction of new facilities

will have to be sourced and partnerships forged between

the private and public sectors.”

“Cricket is the premier sport on the island.

30/05/14 www.barbadostoday.bb Page 43

REMAINING 2014 TOURISports CalendarMay31- Motorsport, Sol Rally Barbados - Rugby, Guyana vs Trinidad, the Garrison - Polo, Presidents / Kearns Trophy, Holders

June01- Football, British Airways Football Legends Invitational Tournament

06 - Football, 6th Banks Barbados international Masters Football

09 (Whit Monday) - Swimming, Barbados Open Water Classic, Accra Browne’s Beach

13 - Swimming, Junior Stroke Swim Splash

14 - Horse Racing, the Garrison - Watersports, Surfing, Parlour

18 - Sailing, Caribbean J24 Open Championship

21- Sailing, Lucky Horseshoe J24 and Offshore Regatta

28 - Horse Racing, the Garrison, Barbados Fillies Guineas

July05- Cricket, Sir Garfield Sobers International Schools CricketTournament - Horse Racing, the Garrison - Sailing, Harris Paints J24 and Offshore Regatta

06- Cricket, Caribbean Premier League Cricket, Kensington Oval

13- Sailing, Barbados Cruising Club Regatta

19 - Horse Racing, the Garrison

August01- Horse Racing, the Garrison - Watersports, Surfing competition

09- Horse Racing, United Insurance Derby Day, the Garrison

24 - Hockey, Banks International Hockey Festival

30- Horse Racing, the Garrison

September05 to 06- Watersports, Surfing - Bathsheba Soup Bowl - Motorsport, Motor Racing

05 - Golf, United Barbados Open 2014

07- Sailing, National Dingy Championships

12- Tennis, Barbados Makes Davis Cup Tennis history,

13- Horse Racing, the Garrison

20- Watersports, Surfing at Sand Bank

21- Sailing, National Dingy Championships

October04- Combat Sports, Pan American Judo Cup

05- Combat Sports, Barbados International Judo Tournament - Sailing, National Dingy Championships

07- Watersports, SUPing around Barbados with Brian Talma

11- Watersports, Surfing Nationals

19- Sailing, National Dingy Championships

25- Sailing, J24 Match Raching Championships - CLOBI LOBI Cup World Masters Tournament, Kensington

29- Swimming, Swim Festival

November

Page 44 www.barbadostoday.bb 30/05/14

IST MAGNETS

01- Darts, Darts Festival (/events/darts/2014/november/dartsfestival) - Track and Field, Nation Fun Walk - Cricket, The CLOBI Cup International Master Cricket - Watersports, Independence Pro Surfing Championships - Motorsport, Motor Racing - Darts, Brydens Barbados Darts Festival - Volleyball, Sizzling Sands Beach Volleyball, Brighton Beach - Combat Sports, Barbados Karate Association National Tournament

02- Sailing, National Dinghy Championships

December05 to 07- Run Barbados ( www.runbarbados.org)

30/05/14 www.barbadostoday.bb Page 45

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30/05/14 www.barbadostoday.bb Page 46