The summer season has failed to deliver on the anticipated increased tourist arrivals and has been “deathly quiet for new bookings”, according to one hotel executive.Sales and Marketing Manager for Ocean Hotels Barbados Jacqui McDermott told Barbados TODAY that while expectations were high just before the Crop Over season, with many visitors from the island’s key markets showing high interest in travelling here for the first edition of the festival since 2019, the expected increased numbers did not materialise.She said coupled with high ticket prices, the situation had left the industry in limbo with little to no growth in bookings over the past few months.“Where that has left the industry right now in the summer is that the flights are full, there are very few flight seats left. The airlines are trying to recoup the money they would have lost over the last two years, so they are holding their flight seat prices which are actually super expensive and uncompetitive, even to [other] islands in the Caribbean or other destinations like Dubai or Mexico.
