Barbados’ Petra Roach Shares Island’s Secrets to Tourism Success

Ever since Petra Roach took over as the U.S. director of Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI) in 2015, Barbados has seen its airlift dramatically increase, its number of American arrivals spike and its collection of accolades significantly grow.

And that includes 2019.

The BTMI team received the highest honor as Best Tourism Board Overall in the USA at the 2019 Travvy Awards – beating out Australia, Japan, Malta and Korea. Barbados also took home two Silver Awards, including Silver in Best Destination Overall as well as Best Honeymoon Destination in the Caribbean/Bahamas.

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High-level airline partnerships have been a cornerstone effort for BTMI’s U.S. office. This strategy has led to increased airlift and the introduction of new gateways.

In December 2018, American Airlines introduced two important service changes from the U.S to Barbados which were a third daily flight from Miami and for the first time, daily service from Charlotte, North Carolina.

To promote the new flights, the island hosted the inaugural Millennial Travel Forum, bringing 15 top-producing millennial travel advisors to the island for a multi-day immersion and roundtable discussion. Launched by travAlliancemedia, this event encouraged the participants to engage their social media followers and spark conversations about the relevance of the destination and the product offering for the millennial segment.

Also, JetBlue Airways expanded its seasonal direct service from Newark to weekly direct service year-round on May 4 of this year.

Roach, Virtuoso’s 2018 Ambassador of the Year, recently chatted with TravelPulse about these accomplishments and also reveals how she and the other members of the BTMI team were able to keep Barbados in the spotlight since she took over her current position.

Here’s what she had to say.

TravelPulse (TP): Tell me about the success Barbados has had since you joined the U.S. market for the BTMI? What do you attribute it to?

Petra Roach (PR): We focused on changing the narrative of Barbados. Instead of just promoting sun, sand and sea, we highlighted all the niches where we have a United States presence.

For example, Barbados was the only destination outside of the U.S.A. that George Washington visited and we work very closely with Mount Vernon, his ancestral home and its many patrons.

We are the birthplace of rum, Mount Gay in 1703. We are the only colony that founded a colony, Charleston, so we work closely with the mayor’s office in Charleston and organizations like the Charleston Historical Society so that we are building texture to the Barbados story and developing deep, emotional relationships with the key players who are extremely invested in the conversation.

Of course, concurrently we worked hard to improve the airlift capacity and opened up four new gateways and introduced increased premium service like JetBlue’s Mint class on the [John F. Kennedy International Airport] and Boston routes.

Our relationship with our travel agent partners has intensified and we are working closer with a smaller number of agents who we have been empowered with information and resources.

TP: What’s it like to break the U.S. visitor arrival record three years in a row?

PR: We are absolutely elated that the hard work is paying dividends and we were able to arrest the fall off in visitation. From 2015 to now, each year we have had growth in this market, with a high point in 2017, where we broke the 1987 record for the largest number of U.S. visitors.

We subsequently broke this record again in 2018 – the U.S.A. also now represents 30 percent of Barbados’ 681,197 stay-over visitors or 204,830 visitors.

So, not only did we reach our goal of surpassing 200,000 visitors from the U.S., but this represented an 8.4 percent increase from 2017, making the U.S. the top growth market for Barbados globally.

TP: How important has new and upgraded resorts like The Waves Resort and Spa by Elegant Hotels, Sandals Barbados, Treasure Beach by Elegant Hotels, been in attracting Millennials?

PR: Barbados is a multi-faceted, multi-dimensional destination, not just in terms of its accommodation offerings, but also in terms of activities that all can engage in.

Multi-generational families have been visiting for a long time, various generations have been traveling together and enjoying the experience.

Hotel partners have really ramped up their value-added propositions and added exciting features, like learning to stand-up paddleboard, behind-the-scenes experiences with their chefs and art tours.

We are fortunate to have properties and partners on the island that are committed to understanding the various types of travelers that Barbados sees year-round.

The Waves, Sandals and Treasure Beach are certainly geared towards the millennial traveler, however, there are fantastic timeless options for travelers of any generation.

TP: How important was it to host MTF Barbados with regards to maintaining and creating relationships with the travel agents of the future?

PR: Barbados is a boutique destination and the clientele that we cultivate tends to want more from a holiday than just fly and flop, so these types of clients tend to use travel agents. So, I cannot begin to express how important the travel agent community is to our success.

When you have someone who is impassioned about your product and can express that to their clientele, along with recommendations on the right experiences for them, your job is that much easier.

We want to create a legacy of a repeat customer and the agent owns that direct relationship to the client, so we have to work closely together to achieve that objective.

TP: What are some other initiatives/partnerships that lead to Barbados’ success in the last five years?

PR: In its third year, the Greenwich Polo Event is a huge success as it allows us to tap into the Northeast’s luxury market. Since Barbados is synonymous with luxury and has an established polo heritage, we’re able to bring Barbados to Connecticut to promote elements of the island, including culinary and rum offerings, as well as its strong equestrian and sporting tradition.

Additionally, our partnership with the Brooklyn Nets has been very successful. Each year, we host a Barbados night at the Barclays Center where we expose game attendees to the islands’ culture, music and cuisine. We have Bajan singers and chefs on site.

TP: You have 24 hours in Barbados. How do you spend it?

PR: First thing would be to grab a rum punch and head to the beach for a bit of soft adventure, either stand-up paddle boarding, jet skiing, jet blading or windsurfing.

My lunch would consist of fresh fish grilled to perfection and a glass of iced-cold Prosecco at La Cabane. After I tore myself away, I’d head to Lime Grove [Lifestyle Centre], our premier retail shopping mall.

I’d then head over to Tapas for a sundowner whilst watching an amazing sunset. A quick shower, wind dry my hair, put my high heels and red lipstick on, and it’s then off to The Cliff Beach Club for a quick bite.

Then, I head over to McBride’s on the South Coast to take in one of their many live band performances.

So, yes, you guessed it, I am a foodie, so my work revolves around food and drink and Barbados has spoiled me because it never disappoints on that score.