Barbados Plans to Offer 12-month Remote-work Stay Incentive to Attract Visitors
Barbados officially re-opened its borders to tourists on Sunday, July 12. To boost tourism and revive the economy, the prime minister of Barbados is considering permitting visitors to stay and work remotely in the island country for a year.
Last week, the island nation’s prime minister, Mia Mottley, uncovered that her government is looking at introducing a 12-month “Barbados Welcome Stamp.” Although not officially launched yet, the “12-month Barbados Welcome Stamp” has already gone viral on social media, piquing the interest of travellers of all over the world.
Mottley said the stamp would allow visitors to “come and work from here overseas, digitally so, so that persons don’t need to remain in the countries in which they are.”
On Sunday during a Facebook Live session, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley commented on the social media popularity of the incentive. "The thing has gone viral–all over, both sides of the Atlantic. I have just been doing interviews for the last three or five days, 25-30 newspapers," she says. "It goes to show that you can use here to be a hub and be a global citizen from here, but allow the best of Barbados and the Caribbean to flavour in all that you are doing," Mottley continues.
She touches on the incentive's best features: "live here in a relatively safe location, wonderful breeze, all of the facilities to do your work, but do it next to the sea and the sun for a change."
According to the Barbados Government Information Service website, Mottley said that the COVID-19 pandemic had made short-term travel more troublesome because of requirements for testing for the virus.
As an alternative, the prime minister proposed the concept of travellers coming to Barbados for a lengthier stay, during which, they could keep on working remotely.
“You don’t need to work in Europe, or the U.S. or Latin America if you can come here and work for a couple of months at a time; go back and come back,” Mottley said during a speech at the official reopening of a restaurant in the St. Lawrence Gap neighbourhood on July 1.
Even though Barbados is mulling over a one-year “welcome stamp” to visitors, the Canadian government still advises against all non-essential travel outside of Canada until further notice.
According to the U.S. embassy in Barbados, with the resumption of commercial flights, British Airways, Jet Blue, Virgin Atlantic, and American Airlines also started their flight operations to Barbados.
There will be several new health protocols for visitors arriving at the airport in Barbados, including a PCR test for coronavirus, mandatory face mask use, and health screening. Travellers from high and moderate-risk countries, including Canada, will have to show proof of a negative test from an accredited laboratory taken within 72 hours of leaving for the island or will be monitored for the onset of symptoms for seven days.
Even before the borders reopen, Barbados has already started relaxing COVID-19 pandemic measures and lifting curfews.
On June 15, the government lifted restrictions on open hours for beaches and parks. On July 1, physical distancing requirements were reduced to a one-metre distance and all curfew restrictions were cancelled.
According to the U.S. embassy in Barbados and data compiled by John Hopkins University, the Caribbean country currently has 98 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
The country hasn't yet announced when the program will go into effect, but as Mottley continues to express excitement over the proposition, we're hoping we'll hear more soon.