A destination is willing to admit you or your client for a visit but requires a negative PCR test for compliance. Problem is, the test can’t be done, or the results aren’t delivered, within the required window, making a COVID-era trip even more stressful than it should be, or even dead in the water at the outset.
With this in mind, and unwilling to have its tourism industry left at the mercy of a multitude of varied testing facilities around the world, the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. challenged its international offices to find local partners that could simplify the process safely and earn designation as an “official” testing provider for the tourist board.
BTMI has announced it’s representative in North America: StageZero Life Sciences, which has an office in Richmond Hill, Ont. (as well as Richmond, Va.)
The company arranges in-home tests for prospective travellers across the country (including most major cities) and, crucially, delivers results with 72 hours of arrival in Barbados as required by the Barbadian government.
Moreover, StageZero promises that clients in Canada (and the US) will have their results within 48 hours – thereby eliminating the prospect of having to cancel and rebook flights if the negative test is delayed.
“There have been challenges with getting test results back within the required three days,” Barbados tourism minister Lisa Cummins told reporters on a Zoom call late last week, adding that Canada has had its share of challenges in that regard.
Of course, this country is not alone, and Barbados’ initiative to find and promote its own testing partners in international markets must be considered simply the latest step in the inexorable evolution of a return to travel in the COVID era.
Cummins admits it is challenging to find partners in all its source markets but is excited to a introduce a reputable partner for North America as its first.
Travellers are not required to use StageZero – any negative test result produced will suffice – but Barbados hopes to make it easy for its visitors by taking the guesswork out of the process for them and providing an official endorsement.
“Most definitely, this will go over really well in Canada,” Sonia Marville-Carter, Consul General for the Government of Barbados in Canada, told Travel Industry Today, citing “a number of issues with persons who have not been able to get their test results back in time (before scheduled travelling).”
She added, “This (initiative) comes in a very timely manner for us as we have a number of persons wishing to go to Barbados (right now).”
Of course, government officials are quick to point out that goal is for all travellers – both tourists and the diaspora – to travel safety to and within Barbados, not simply just to travel, and to make it easier to do so.
Don Thomson described StageZero Life Sciences as a “high complexity lab” with simple protocols, some of which are unique in the industry.
“First of all, we test people in their homes – we come to them,” he said, noting that this eliminates the fear factor of people have of going to a lab or waiting in long lines. And, he adds, “Turning the result around in 24 to 48 hours is key!”
In brief, the “patient zero” journey is as follows:
• Travellers make an appointment on the dedicated web site stagezerolifesciences.com/Barbados at least seven days in advance
• An online calendar helps travellers pick the best day to test according to their flying date and reminders are sent by email
• Kits are sent out in advance ready to be administered at the appointed time by a health professional, who also ensures the sample is packaged correctly for return
• The traveller couriers the test back in a pre-labelled (and paid for) box or drops it off at a designated location
• Same-day sample testing provides results that are sent in PDF format via encrypted email within 48 hours and the traveller is instructed to upload them, along with other relevant information and a photo, to https://travelform.gov.bb/home
• Travellers bring a copy of the test and provided letter accreditation for presentation while in transit.
While the cost isn’t cheap – $340 for one traveller, $590 for two, $730 for three, $920 for four, and $1,110 for a family of five – and must be paid up front, Thomson says StageZero is recognized by insurance companies, which may re-imbursement all or some of the costs depending on the traveller’s coverage.
Canada is considered a high-risk country for Barbados and its citizens will still be subject to further protocols, including taking a second test within four to five days of their first one, before gaining full freedom of movement on island.
But with the foundation of a reputable and timely first test, officials assure that arrivals should find it “very fast coming through the airport.”
And they can feel relief that they are, in fact, there.