Tourism in Barbados is more than Caribbean beaches and sunshine. This small island destination adopting a tourism model that minimizes environmental impacts and fosters regenerative travel practices. Recognizing its vulnerability to climate change, the government is working to enhance resilience, protecting residents, natural resources, and wildlife species against future challenges. This film captures Barbados’s infectious commitment to sustainability, highlighting how citizens, travelers, tourism businesses, and newcomers who call it home contribute positively, while mindfully enjoying what the island has to offer.
Coral Restoration and Marine Life Conservation
Travelers can participate in coral reef restoration with Barbados dive shops, such as Barbados Blue, by learning coral reef first aid and planting coral fragments that bring new life to the reef. Resorts are also stepping up, partnering on efforts to protect endangered sea turtles that nest along Barbados’s beaches. Colony Club Barbados collaborates with the Barbados Sea Turtle Project to rescue turtle hatchlings during nesting season, safeguarding one of the island’s most iconic wildlife species.Â
Low-Carbon Tourism and Climate-Friendly Landscapes
This spirit of regeneration and eco-conscious travel extends beyond the ocean to the island’s interior, where Barbados’s historic rail line is being reborn through the Barbados Trailway project. The 15-mile (24-kilometer) trail will serve as a green corridor for walking, cycling, and running, passing sites that speak to the island’s past. By promoting low-carbon recreation and planting 5,000 fruit trees, the trail reduces travel emissions while providing a new way to explore the island.
New growth is also taking root at Coco Hill Forest. Visitors can experience the benefits of agroforestry by planting a variety of trees and crops, including ginger, cocoa, turmeric, and mangoes. These diverse plantings restore soils degraded by centuries of sugar cane monoculture, capture carbon, and enhance local food security.Â
Sustainable Food and Drinks
Meanwhile, Local & Co places an emphasis on local sourcing at its farm-to-table restaurant. The menu connects the island’s farmers and fishermen with consumers, featuring dishes crafted from yesterday’s catch and freshly harvested produce. Each plate tells a story of Barbados’s land and sea.
At the same time, new approaches are quenching the island’s thirst while keeping plastic out of paradise. Eco Sky Water’s innovative solution produces drinking water from humid air using renewable solar energy and biodegradable bottles. The initiative reduces emissions, cuts plastic waste in tourism, decreases reliance on imported bottled water, and enhances resilience against water scarcity and other climate change impacts.Â
Sustainable Travel: Where Next?
This film is part of Sustainable Travel International’s Where Next series, a documentary collection showcasing sustainable tourism examples and transformative solutions from destinations and companies worldwide, produced in partnership with Blackrook Media.
