{"id":4334,"date":"2017-07-17T17:56:10","date_gmt":"2017-07-17T21:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=4334"},"modified":"2017-07-23T17:34:27","modified_gmt":"2017-07-23T17:34:27","slug":"barrett-says-tourism-minister-doing-excellent-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/barrett-says-tourism-minister-doing-excellent-job\/","title":{"rendered":"Barrett says tourism minister doing “excellent” job"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Amid criticisms over his performance, Tourism Minister Asot Michael is being praised by hotelier Rob Barrett.<\/p>

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In a statement today, the Chairman of Elite Island Resorts not only praised Michael but Prime Minister Gaston Browne for being \u201cvery proactive with respect to the country\u2019s vital tourism industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

In particular, Barrett said the current Minister Tourism, \u201chas been trying his very best in challenging circumstances, and is doing an excellent job.\u201d<\/p>

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He added, \u201cIn 2017, the Government has demonstrated renewed vigor and commitment to creating a thriving hospitality and investment climate.\u00a0 We want to do our part to make Antigua and Barbuda one of the Caribbean\u2019s most desirable holiday destinations.\u00a0 Reinvesting in The Verandah is a show of confidence in the island\u2019s continued success and an investment in the future of the resort\u2019s employees.\u201d<\/p>

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The hotel received some bad press in the last few days after its temporary closure was linked to \u201ctrying times.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, in his statement today Barrett blamed the bad public relations on \u201c a representative for The Verandah\u201d who issued an \u201cerroneous and unapproved press release\u201d that called into question the financial stability of The Verandah and tourism to Antigua and Barbuda.<\/p>

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Robert-Rob-Barrett<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The hotel mogul said that press release was well-intentioned, \u201cbut was overzealous and poorly worded.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be perfectly clear, The Verandah has been\u2014and remains\u2014a very strong resort; and the Elite Island Resorts group, with its diverse portfolio of Caribbean resorts and related businesses, is one of the region\u2019s most stable and successful hospitality groups, bar none,\u201d Barrett stated.<\/p>

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The company will close from August 30th<\/sup> to October 13th<\/sup> for upgrades and renovations.<\/p>

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During that period, some staff will be on vacation, others will be assigned to other properties owned by Elite Island Resorts, and some will even find work during the upgrade of Verandah.<\/p>\n

Michael has faced calls to resign after the twin-island state recorded a drop of more than 6000 visitors from the U.S, year to date.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amid criticisms over his performance, Tourism Minister Asot Michael is being praised by hotelier Rob Barrett. In a statement today, the Chairman of Elite Island Resorts not only praised Michael but Prime Minister Gaston Browne for being \u201cvery proactive with respect to the country\u2019s vital tourism industry.\u201d In particular, Barrett said the current Minister Tourism, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4335,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-tourism"],"yoast_head":"\nBarrett says tourism minister doing "excellent" job - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/barrett-says-tourism-minister-doing-excellent-job\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Barrett says tourism minister doing "excellent" job\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Amid criticisms over his performance, Tourism Minister Asot Michael is being praised by hotelier Rob Barrett. In a statement today, the Chairman of Elite Island Resorts not only praised Michael but Prime Minister Gaston Browne for being \u201cvery proactive with respect to the country\u2019s vital tourism industry.\u201d In particular, Barrett said the current Minister Tourism, […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/barrett-says-tourism-minister-doing-excellent-job\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Antigua News Room\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-07-17T21:56:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-07-23T17:34:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Asot.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/barrett-says-tourism-minister-doing-excellent-job\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/barrett-says-tourism-minister-doing-excellent-job\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\"},\"headline\":\"Barrett says tourism minister doing “excellent” job\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-17T21:56:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-07-23T17:34:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/barrett-says-tourism-minister-doing-excellent-job\/\"},\"wordCount\":343,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/barrett-says-tourism-minister-doing-excellent-job\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:800\/h:600\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Asot.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Featured\",\"Tourism\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/barrett-says-tourism-minister-doing-excellent-job\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/barrett-says-tourism-minister-doing-excellent-job\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/barrett-says-tourism-minister-doing-excellent-job\/\",\"name\":\"Barrett says tourism minister doing \\\"excellent\\\" job - 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