Macroeconomic Forecast Barbados

BMI View: According to preliminary government figures, long-stay tourist arrivals grew by around 2.6% y-o-y, down from 3.7% y-o-y in the January-November period in 2006. Higher air fares - driven by elevated world oil prices - were the primary drag on this growth slowdown, and the Cricket World Cup helped prevent growth slowing even further. Nevertheless, arrivals from two of the the three biggest markets showed above average growth; numbers from UK were up by 6.3%, from Canada, by 7.7%, and by 2.7% from the US. Conversely, higher air fares and the reduction of regional services were to blame for a 16.0% fall in visitors from CARICOM countries.

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