Fishing dispute not affecting Bajan arrivals for Carnival

POLITICAL hostilities involving a fishing agreement between Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago have not affected the arrivals of Barbadians to Trinidad for Carnival. As a matter of fact, Liat had to add extra flights from that island to accommodate Barba-dian visitors coming for Carni-val celebrations this weekend. Liat’s regional sales manager, South, Paula Benjamin said the airline has not had any cancellations from Barbados nationals coming to TT. She said as far as she was aware, the fishing dispute had not affected travel between the islands and flights from Barbados were fully booked to the extent that the airline had to put on extra flights to facilitate an increased demand. Benjamin was speaking yesterday at a press conference hosted by the Barbados Tourism Authority (BTA) at Crowne Plaza, Port-of-Spain.

Al Gilkes, chairman of the National Cultural Foundation (NCF), said a survey in the Barbados Nation last week showed that there were only two cancellations by Barbadians booked to travel to TT. However, no reason was given for the cancellations and the newspaper was not certain if it had anything to do with the fishing dispute. Gilkes said when he and other officials from the NCF and BTA arrived here two nights ago, they wondered about the reception they would have received. He was happy to report that “we were received with open  arms,” for which he thanked Trinidadians. He assured that Trinidadians visiting Barbados will receive “the same gestures of accommodation of goodwill.” Gilkes said the NCF and BTA were going ahead with promoting Bajan’s Crop-Over festival here at the height of our Carnival season because despite the “political battle over flying fish, it will not hinder the successful relations we share in entertainment.”

Oliver Jordan, president and CEO of the BTA, was optimistic that there was “no reason for it (Carnival) to be affected” because of the dispute. But he said the BTA was concerned about the matter and hoped it would be resolved quickly. Trinidad and Tobago is Barbados’s largest market for tourism and they are hoping that it will grow by at least five percent. Last year, 3,000 Trinidadians visited Barbados for Crop-Over. This year’s festival will be launched on May 7 and will culminate in Grand Kadooment on August 3.