Meet The Winners: Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc.

During Routes Americas 2024 in Bogotá, Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. highlighted its recent successes in route development, the creation of sustainable relationships with airline partners, and the significance of being named the Destination Winner at the Routes Awards.

With a population of just over 280,000, tourism is the main economic driver for the South Caribbean island. After being one of the last islands to fully lift pandemic protocols, the tourism authority has focused on coming back stronger with sustainable, long-term demand and increased destination awareness through targeted initiatives and campaigns.

In 2024 so far, Barbados has seen tremendous growth in capacity, frequencies, airlift, and the expansion of new gateways. Notable achievements include American Airlines' New York John F. Kennedy (JFK) to Bridgetown, Barbados (BGI) daily service starting Nov. 5 and a Saturday-only service from Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) beginning Nov. 9.

Delta Air Lines will also launch a daily service from Atlanta to BGI from Nov. 23 and 1X-weekly flights from JFK to BGI from Dec. 21. During its summer schedule, United Airlines is also flying to Barbados from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR).

The success this year comes after JetBlue in 2023 increased its Barbados service to 2X-weekly from Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) and doubled daily departures from JFK that ran from September 2023 to February 2024.

Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. is renowned for its awareness initiatives to increase the attractiveness of the location and ensure routes reach capacity. For example, leveraging JetBlue’s digital partnerships, the tourism authority engaged in campaigns in Boston and New York to highlight Barbados’ dynamic culinary scene, achieving a social reach of more than 700,000 and 440,000 social page visits.

Speaking to Routes in Bogotá, Eusi Skeete, director at Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc., highlighted that Latin America is a key target market, with the opening of an office in Panama City to deepen relationships. Within North America, southern and midwest markets are attractive, with California being a priority unserved destination.

Canada presents a strong opportunity for further growth, with Air Canada marking 75 years of flying to Barbados in 2024 and increasing frequency on its Montreal route to four times weekly this year.

Commended for its cohesive strategy, strong route development, and thorough marketing support to build sustainable relationships, Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. was crowned the winner of the Destination category at the Routes Awards. On the win, Skeete said: “It was truly a humbling experience. For our airline partners to show confidence in us as a destination and to say that they see the support we are providing is something we are extremely grateful for and humbled by. It reaffirms our commitment as a destination.”