Thanks for inviting our ideas.

My suggestion is for a tourism development strategy which places greater focus on snowbird visitor like myself. I come to Barbados from Canada for six months every year.

There are 10's of thousands of Canadians who, just like me, travel south every winter to escape the snow. The vast majority of them go to Florida and their contribution to the economy of that state must be immense.

Snowbirds also go to warmer climes from the UK traveling to Spain, Portugal and southern Europe. Some come to Barbados.

The Barbados Tourism Authority has limited funds to invest in advertising and marketing. So selecting the optimal target group is surely an extremely important decision.

I see the visitor numbers reported and there is often much cheer over an increase in cruise ship passengers. But what do they spend on the island? Not much, as far as I know. And the little that they spend is usually controlled by the Cruise Lines who greedily grab most of the margin.

Vacationers spending a week or two in Barbados will obviously be more valuable in that they spend a lot more money while they are there.

But the cream on top of the milk is people like me who come for over 180 days and do nothing but spend money. I am retired and do not work so there is no risk of my stealing a local job. I go to restaurants, cinemas, theatres and the like. I shop at the supermarket, the fish market and the farmers' markets every week. I play golf as a member at Barbados Golf Club and am a member of the local scuba diving club. I belong to a gym and work out with a private trainer twice a week. I own a car and buy gas, insurance and service for the vehicle. I often invite guests who make a special visit the island and spend money while there. On top of all that I own a condominium at Barbados Golf Club which costs me about US$10,000 to maintain annually. I am not a "West Coast High Roller"....those people are in another financial bracket and spend immense amounts of money in Barbados. I am a regular, every day snowbird. And there are lots of us.

My financial value as a visitor to the island probably exceeds that of of a one week vacationer by 20 times or more.

So my idea is to for you develop marketing plans which attract more people like me. Can you find a way to directly reach them with the case to choose Barbados? Can you increase the number of furnished rental units available on an extended basis, ie 3 - 6 months? Could more hotels offer attractive long term rates to such guests? What can you do to make them feel wanted, special and welcome to Barbados?

I hope this is useful. And thanks for having me on your beautiful island for 6 months of every year.

Jim Satterthwaite