As Barbados aims to further capitalize on growing American tourism arrivals to the eastern Caribbean island, Georgia has emerged as a pivotal location to tell its story to native “Bajans” and prospective visitors alike.
That’s largely because Delta Air Lines is set to launch a daily nonstop flight to Barbados from Atlanta on Nov. 23 after a seven-year hiatus.
But it’s also thanks to a large diaspora that tourism officials hope to woo back home during a year of special programming during the 2025 “We Gathering” initiative, they said during a celebration in Atlanta.
“This strategic marketing initiative will involve a global appeal to our diaspora to come home to Barbados, especially in source markets such as United States and specifically from Georgia, where a sizable population lives,” said Ian Gooding-Edghill, minster of tourism and transportation, in a speech at the Nobu Hotel in Buckhead.
While focusing on expats, Barbados is also broadening its outreach to Americans who may be unfamiliar with the island through a variety of platforms, from digital advertising to social media influencers to targeting Delta’s jet-setting SkyMiles members.
Plans also call for deepening engagement with members of the travel and tourism trade in Atlanta and beyond to ensure Barbados is on their list for weddings, conventions and group travel. Delta’s Atlanta flight, combined with another weekly New York nonstop that will start Dec. 21, is to add 70,000 airline seats that will need to be filled in 2025.
“Our approach to garner increased visitor arrivals from this segment includes an integrated marketing and public relations strategy that specifically showcases our festival experiences, signature events and rich culinary scene,” Mr. Gooding-Edghill said.
A former British colony, Barbados has traditionally been stronger in the United Kingdom, Europe and Canada than in the United States, but that is starting to change, officials said. U.S. arrivals increased 18 percent in 2023 over the previous year, and in April, American travelers outpaced all other markets as more than 20,000 touched down.
“This strong performance fuels optimism that further expansion will be realized throughout the remainder of 2024,” the minister said.
Barbados is building on momentum from other partnerships withthe U.S., including the successful joint hosting of the T20 Cricket World Cup and a new multi-year sponsorship of the PGA Tour and its championship tournament to capitalize on the island’s appeal to golfers. (In the front row of the Atlanta event were women from the local chapter of Ladies Who Golf.)
Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. CEO Andrea Franklin said there’s no reason to wait until the Delta flight takes off in November to visit the island, outlining special events like the Crop Over festival, a harvest celebration started hundreds of years ago among enslaved Barbadians who cultivated sugar cane that gave the British empire much of its wealth.
While the tradition has spanned centuries, the island started marketing it a half-century ago after the country achieved independence.
“This year we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the festival of what we affectionately dubbed the sweetest summer festival, and we seek to attract travelers looking to immerse themselves in what is indisputably a sensational cultural experience,” Ms. Franklin said, noting that the festival kicked off in early July and will culminate Aug. 5 with the Grand Kadooment, a parade of costumed dancers and travelers.
Offering a little more lead time, she bookmarked the Oct. 24-27 Barbados Food and Rum Festival, which gives visitors a concentrated taste of an island that boasts more than 400 eateries, from roadside stalls to fine-dining establishments.
Ms. Franklin said the event’s designation as the top culinary festival in the Caribbean in 2023 shows that the island is a true “culinary capital of the Caribbean,” a moniker it is claiming over objections from other competing islands, much like “birthplace of rum.”
Tacking on to the minister’s comments, Ms. Franklin underscored that 2025 will be an impactful year to visit island, perhaps more than once, as each month is to include a focus on one of the island’s 11 parishes, culminating in one large celebration at the end of the year.
“Each parish will try to outdo each other,” she said. “So 2025 is certainly the time to come to Barbados if you truly want to get an idea about our culture, about our people, our food, and all that we have to offer from a more of a grassroots perspective.”
Barbados Honorary Consul David Cutting, a retired international banker who represents the country in Georgia, said he has watched from abroad as the island has refined its pitch and its tourist offering, to the point where it’s now poised to attract a fitting number of American tourists.
“If your job is to promote paradise, you don’t get too many people saying no,” Mr. Cutting said. “I get a lot of people that say ‘Not yet.’ I believe when the minister and the CEO of BTMI speak you’ll understand why ‘Not yet’ is going to become ‘Yes,’ fairly quickly.
Mr. Gooding-Edghill, the tourism minister, thanked the audience, noting that their work promoting Barbados as a destination is having a material impact on the economy in the country of 300,000.
In the first quarter of 2024, Barbados posted 4 percent growth and looks to see that number grow as more Americans touch down via a five-hour nonstop flight Atlanta, he said.
“It’s persons like you in this room that will help us to make life better, but also to help us generate the business to the destination, and therefore it be remiss of me not to say a great thank you for my heart.”
Can’t make it to Barbados immediately? Get a taste in Atlanta:
- Just missed July 20 — Barbados Association of Georgia fundraiser for Hurricane Beryl relief in support of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Learn more at visitbarbados.org.