Emerged from a commonwealth-dependent island, Barbados is a new republic and a young independent Caribbean nation of less than 300,000 in population.

Barbados appointing Jens Thraenhart as CEO of Barbados tourism is proof that Barbados thinks independently.

Almost all Caribbean islands offer beautiful beaches, and tourism is the most crucial export for most. All Caribbean islands are also diverse, unique, and proud of their cultures. Barbados is no exception.

On islands, sometimes it isn’t what you know, it’s who you know.

The first question on most islands, such as it is in Hawaii, is what school did you attend? If this school is not in Hawaii, you are a haole and not considered to be from “here.”

This is known as island mentality.

Barbados is a small island nation. On most islands, it’s not easy for a foreigner to be accepted among those who call themselves locals. Important leadership positions of a foreigner in the public or political domain are mostly unheard of in island nations.

In November 2021, Dr. Jens Thraenhart was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI), the official national tourism organization of the island nation of Barbados in the Caribbean.

BTMI is responsible for promoting Barbados as a sustainable tourism destination by implementing marketing strategies that help the responsible development of tourism.

Barbados took a brave step when Dr. Thraenhart was appointed as the CEO of Barbados Tourism. In this position, he became the foreign face of this island nation.

Jens Thraenhart is a German Canadian and never lived or worked in the Caribbean before. However, he brought decades of global experience when he proudly started calling Barbados his beautiful new home.

Tourism for most island economies is everybody’s business, but having a foreigner take charge of it takes tolerance, understanding, and a lot of fine-tuning for everyone involved.

Foreigners often work as international consultants for local leadership but are seldom the official face of any public organization.

In just a little more than a year of wearing the hat of the man in charge in his top island position, Jens has managed to raise the bar for Barbados on the tourism map from Africa to Europe to North America, and even Brazil.

He did this in his style, bringing his expert experience to the island of Barbados.

His unique video blog, showcasing the island destination, going into the community, visiting small businesses, and learning from Barbadians by asking them what Barbados about set him on the path to leadership success.

He made the island nation an award-winning destination

Barbados is known as a more desirable travel destination.

For Jens, the environment and climate change have always been top priorities in the activities he has been involved with. The Green Destinations Story Award for Environment and Climate presented to Barbados had his fingerprints on it.

A proud Barbados Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Ian Gooding-Edghill, accepted the award in Germany on March 7, 2023, expressing gratitude to Green Destinations during ITB Berlin.

Barbados is the first island in the Caribbean to achieve a 100% renewable energy goal by 2030 and a 70% carbon neutrality goal by 2050. The strides taken thus far have landed Barbados its first milestone in this prestigious category, having the largest fleet of electric buses in the Caribbean.

Island nations all over the world are diverse and different, being it in the Caribbean or in the South Pacific.

Fiji

Fiji is another country with a foreigner who is in charge of tourism. Fiji has a little less than 900,000 people.

Brent Hill, an executive global leader and global award-winning marketer, specializes in tourism, finance, banking, telecommunications, and retail. He has become the face of Fiji tourism since July 2021.

Fiji is on the other side of the world than Barbados, in the South Pacific, which is another rare country with a foreigner in charge of tourism. Fiji has a little less than 900,000 people.

Brent Hill would agree that If there were ever a way to test your leadership mettle, it would be to move to a foreign country in the middle of a pandemic with the task of leading the arrival revival of the nation’s number one industry, tourism. Brent Hill may have the dream job now, but it wasn’t without its challenges.

Brent has also brought fresh new ideas to Fiji, having launched a new brand campaign.

So, while it certainly is not easy for a country to give the Tourism mantle to a foreigner, it is also very challenging for a foreigner to navigate the political landscape, especially in smaller communities such as small island destinations.

But it takes the vision of true world leaders, such as the Prime Minister of Barbados, the Hon. Mia Mottley, a passionate global voice on climate resilience, inclusivity, and sustainability. Despite sensitivities and critics of bringing in a foreigner to lead the most important economic sector, she stayed steadfast in her strategy to find the best to lead Barbados’ tourism recovery from the pandemic.

“I indicated to the country that Barbados would do a global search because we could not afford anything other than the very best to lead our tourism sector in the middle of a crisis.”

“This government stands by that decision.”

“We have to recognize now that what is needed is not only somebody who has capacity, but somebody who has network too, because who will get the doors open quicker for you now in the middle of a crisis when everybody is asking for a door to be open? It is the people who know people and who can leverage that,” said Prime Minister Mottley.

In Barbados, Jens Thraenhart is the only foreign head of a tourism board and a World Tourism Network Hero.
The Tourism Heroes Award is open by nomination only to recognize destinations, stakeholders, activities, personalities, or associations that have shown extraordinary leadership, innovation, and actions. Tourism Heroes go the extra step.

Before joining Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. as it’s CEO, he served the governments of Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and PR China (Yunnan and Guanxi) to head the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO) as its Executive Director/CEO for 4 consecutive contract terms, and established the private sector-led regional tourism board Destination Mekong.

Active in global tourism, he has served as the 2nd Vice Chair of the UNWTO Affiliate Members Board (World Tourism Organization) since 2018 and was a Board Member of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), and past Chair of PATA China.