Bridgetown, Barbados – December 20, 2021
A new powerful technological marketing and e-commerce platform has been launched for Barbados that will enhance the visitor experience from start to finish. The IATA accredited BookBarbados.com, a Barbadian owned and developed platform, has started with more than 2600 rooms, 30 experiences, and 15 car rentals on board. This platform has been created to give the world both a window into and the ability to access, everything that is authentically Barbados.
The process is a phased approach, founder and Executive Chairman Peter Harris is excited about the fact that BookBarbados.com will be a strong foreign exchange earner that puts money directly into the hands of Barbadians. “What makes BookBarbados.com unique is its capacity to showcase every facet of tourism, culture and local products while also allowing the user to make a purchase immediately- all in one place. The site gives visibility to smaller vendors that don’t have the budget to market their products and services, on the scale that larger vendors can. In this first phase users can book accommodations, experiences and car rentals, over the next six months flights, events and cruises will be phased in. BookBarbados.com provides a birds-eye view of everything that makes Barbados, Barbados. I want to encourage every Barbadian to share it with everyone they know and get them to share it with everyone they know. This platform was created to positively impact the Barbadians and Barbados as a whole we want the world to know about it.”
Prime Minister, The Hon. Mia Amor Mottley lauded the new platform. “This is but another innovation that we have actively encouraged, to add to the full rebuilding of the Barbadian tourism and hospitality brand. Its immediate call to action is what makes it so special! Well done.”
The cutting-edge e-commerce platform is a content and booking engine that shines a spotlight on all of the possible experiences and product available in Barbados and allows the user to put what they select into a virtual beach bag and pay for it. BookBarbados.com is a homegrown game changer that is taking an innovative approach to marketing the Barbados brand. This platform will have the largest portfolio of things to experience in Barbados, and puts the power of marketing and direct earning into the hands of locals. There are no sign-up fees for suppliers in order to ensure that it is accessible to everyone.
Minister of Tourism Lisa Cummins has endorsed the new platform and believes it’s just what the sector needs. “BookBarbados is an example of the kind of innovative and internationalized, technology driven start up enterprise that needs to begin to revolutionalize the tourism sector. We fully support this start up and are confident that with the support of local stakeholders, we can create new revenue streams for local tourism businesses and build those brands out internationally over time while marketing destination Barbados.”
Josea Browne, Lead Consultant for BookBarbados.com, said that an important element in developing this platform is working with local businesses and creatives to build synergies that offer a dynamic and robust representation of the island. “We are
contracting directly with all of our suppliers to ensure equal access and opportunity to space on our technology platform. At the heart of BookBarbados.com’s mission, is to provide the world with an authentic view of the Bajan experience by telling our story in our own unique voice. That’s why it’s so important for everyone to get involved. As Bajans, we tell our story better than anyone else can. We want people to spread the word. If you have a product or service, sign up. Whether it is a direct or indirect tourism product, sign up. Whether you are new to tourism or established, sign up. And if you have a friend, tell them to sign-up.
From rum shops, to street vendors, to D.J’s, people who teach dance or fitness classes, or people who make jewelry or design swimsuits, the destination pages of BookBarbados.com is where they need to be. This platform allows us all to show the world what we mean when we say that in Barbados, tourism is everyone’s business. So I am encouraging service providers and creatives to sign up, create your content and upload it onto the platform. Let’s rebuild our industry and economy together.”
BookBarbados.com is not only giving guests the best and most authentic local content in one place, the site allows them to curate their own experience from flights to fete tickets and complete payment in one transaction. This means that along with allowing every Barbadian to play a major role in the global distribution of the local industry. Former BTMI CEO, now Tourism and Marketing Consultant Billy Griffith believes this is a game changer for the Barbadian tourism product, “This is one of the most innovative, timely and much needed, tourism boosts for Barbados to give it an edge in competing for the tourist dollar with those countries that have bigger budgets.”