After a decade of economic deterioration, Barbados came close to the brink. Now, a massive debt burden has been unloaded and the country is ready to mark its return to stability with a yearlong celebration

Not too long ago, Barbados was known as one of the Caribbean’s better-run countries. But following the global financial crisis, a fiscal malaise set in as the economy was hit hard by a tourism drought. Debt soon ballooned to historic levels, making Barbados the unfortunate owner of the world’s fourth-highest debt-to-GDP ratio, after Japan, Greece and Sudan. 

By the time of the 2018 general election, Barbados was aching for change. And they got it. The Barbados Labour Party won the election, providing the island nation with its first female prime minister, Mia Mottley. Given the island’s mounting debt and deteriorating central bank reserves, this new government knew that action had to be taken fast.  

Prime Minister Mottley enacted an emergency effort to restructure the national debt and reduce domestic corporate tax rates in the hope of restoring economic and fiscal health. Despite coming dangerously close to economic collapse, her gambit worked. “The restructuring resulted in an immediate reduction in the debt-to-GDP ratio of about 30 percentage points in nominal terms,” the IMF stated in a follow-up report. Since taking office, Mottley’s government has cut the country’s debt-to-GDP burden from 177% to 109.9%. Authorities are now aiming to bring that debt down to 80% by 2027.  

With the gargantuan debt waning, Barbados has entered the path to recovery. The country is registering positive GDP growth for the first time in three years, Standard & Poor’s has upgraded the island’s credit rating, and steadily mounting tourism arrivals are poised for greater growth. Following the inauguration of a new thrice-weekly flight from Frankfurt to Bridgetown last October, Barbados is betting on larger arrival growth from Germany going into 2020. In the first nine months of 2019, stay-over tourists grew by 4.2%, with the German market increasing by 5.7%. That number will surely rise.  

Seizing the moment, the prime minister is billing 2020 as Barbados’ comeback year. She has launched a yearlong campaign, called We Gatherin’ 2020, as her battle cry, in an effort to unite Barbadians at home and abroad to contribute to the redevelopment and reinvigoration of the island. In the first 11 months of the year, a monthly festival will be dedicated to each of the country’s 11 parishes, bringing visitors – and economic activity – inland.

“Tourism is not just about the beach,” says Robert Chase, the acting CEO of Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. “It’s about meeting and engaging with the people, and the people don’t live just on the coastline.” In a country known for its high frequency of festivals, there is a palpable difference to this year’s celebrations. After a lost decade, there is now plenty of optimism on the horizon, and Barbadians are eager to share it.