Vacations in Barbados are not cheap and could rise as one effect of a proposed national minimum wage which is expected to take effect on Thursday.
The impending increase in the base wage could mean that some tourism-related establishments will have higher operation costs. Government has proposed an EC$8.50 (KY$2.62) per hour national minimum wage and a minimum wage for security guards of $9.25 (KY$2.85). Currently, the minimum wage of $6.25 ($KY1.93) only applies to shop assistants.
Geoffrey Roach, chair of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association, warned of a possible ripple effect that may lead to more expensive vacations for visitors. He said: “We do have some pay scales across the tourism sector and particularly for the hotels. This minimum wage increase will not affect every single tourism enterprise in the same way, but there are tourism players where those increases at the lowest levels could potentially have a ripple effect across all the pay scales.”
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