Regional

Crop Over 2026: Record Breaking Numbers in the Tourism Industry

BARBADOS – Barbados has announced unprecedented numbers of long-stay tourists, as officials say since the COVID-19 pandemic, each year has surpassed the previous one.

Published

3 days ago

July 31, 2026

Denielle Miller

BARBADOS – Following the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions in 2022, Barbados has experienced a steady rise in long-stay tourist arrivals.

In 2022, reports indicated a total of more than half a million arrivals.

Fast forward to 2025, it increased by nearly 730,000 arrivals, marking the highest annual total ever recorded in the island’s history.

It turns out guests stay an average of 11 to 12 days on the island, with this segment of the industry generating over $1 billion annually, accounting for 45% of the nation’s GDP.

CEO of the Barbados Tourism Marketing INC., Andrea Franklin, shares the country’s horse racing event on Thursday, and that the number of visitors tends to peak during the crop over season.

Andrea Franklin – CEO, Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc.

“Normally, we have our winter peak season, and then we do have a draught, maybe from May. And that’s what we’re working hard to kind of flatten out the the curve so that we have activity during the summer period to boost arrivals in the summer, and hence why the whole Crop Over Festival was really developed.”

She also says that the majority of visitors to Barbados come from the United Kingdom, however, they are actively promoting to other markets.

Andrea Franklin – CEO, Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc.

“We’ve always had a good UK market, but in the last two years we’ve also been having a growing U.S. market and that was strategically done as we try to build out airlift from the U.S. market, and it was really done as intentional action on us with trying to diversify where our visitors come from.”

During the event, I was informed that several international influencers were present, thanks to the Barbados’ tourism office.

In our discussion, Franklin revealed that their strategy involved analyzing global trends, economic patterns, and enhancing both their digital and physical presence.

Andrea Franklin – CEO, Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc.

“So over the last three years or so, we have intentionally gone after airlift from the U.S. market. So towards the end of 2024 we had an additional 60,000 seats alone from the U.S. market added in terms of our seat capacity to the destination.”