Intimate Hotels of Barbados (IHB), a non-profit organisation, is made up of locally owned small hotels and apartments. In 2000, the IHB was established to provide marketing and other operational enhancement services for its members. These include advisory services, advocacy and training.
Since inception, the organisation has more than doubled its size growing from less than twenty members to today’s count of more than forty (40) member properties ranging from four rooms all the way up to seventy-nine (79).
One noteworthy development is that, within the membership of IHB, we see 51% percent of our organisation’s hotel owners and managers are female; this trend is mirrored at the Secretariat level, since the group is led by its third female Executive Director, Davina Layne.
The Intimate Hotels of Barbados compete in the segment of budget or affordable accommodation on the island and target travellers who want a holistic experience of room nights plus activity-packed adventure whilst getting value for their vacation investment. The hotels provide accommodation options perfect for all types of people- young adventurers or senior tourists alike!
The Secretariat exists to bolster the ability of the hotels to offer this type of product. The small team achieves this objective through marketing support, creating platforms for promotion of the group through different digital channels such as IG, FB, and a website. The IHB also carefully plans and incorporates promotional activities to draw awareness to the various hotels among local ‘staycationers’ too. Combined with general training and policy onboarding for government-led initiatives, focus includes capacity building and strengthening of the management and operational capabilities of the individual hotels by lobbying and even engaging in formalised alignments with professionals to impart knowledge, technical ability and development plans.
