A range of ideas for Barbadians to become part owners of local hotels were offered as the tourism sector remained in sharp focus when the Estimates Debate continued on Wednesday.Among the suggestions that came from Minister of Tourism Ian Gooding-Edghill and Permanent Secretary Francine Blackman were for smaller hotels to be refurbished and offered for purchase and the listing of hotel companies on stock exchanges.Gooding-Edghill, responding to questions from St Michael South Central MP Marsha Caddle in the well of Parliament where he sat with other officials in the sector, admitted that not all avenues to get Barbadians invested in tourism, particularly in hotel ownership, had been explored.“We should perhaps start looking at opportunities for maybe venture capitalists with the full participation of the Barbadian public. Maybe we should go the route of having maybe an initial IPO [initial public offering] or floating a company on a local stock exchange or refloating it elsewhere on any other stock market,” said Gooding-Edghill, a former human resources director with Elegant Hotels Group which benefited from similar stock exchange listings.
