Barbados

Barbados is the ‘Little England' of the Caribbean , although the vast majority of the people are very black and the lifestyle is very laid-back Caribbean there's a certain ‘Britishness' to every thing here. The people are among the most open and friendly in the whole world and don't have that traditional English reserve at all.

The island was uninhabited when first settled by the British in 1627 when they brought slaves to work the sugar plantations established on the island, this lasted until 1834 when slavery was abolished. The economy remained heavily dependent on sugar, rum, and molasses production through most of the 20th century. The gradual introduction of social and political reforms in the 1940s and 1950s led to complete independence from the UK in 1966. In the 1990s, tourism and light industry manufacturing surpassed the sugar industry in economic importance. Offshore finance and information services are now important foreign exchange earners. The government continues its efforts to reduce unemployment, to encourage direct foreign investment, and to privatize remaining state-owned enterprises. The economy contracted in 2002-03 mainly due to a decline in tourism but this should be reversed as conditions in Europe (particularly the UK ) and America have improved.

Holidays in Barbados are now being marketed more effectively as the industry realize that more and more people want to do something whilst on holiday in the Caribbean rather than lay around on the beach all day many visitors want to try their hand at something different and with it's crystal clear waters, diving in Barbados is at the top of many peoples wish list. Fishing in the Caribbean has always been popular among the well heeled but with the affluence of the general public coming on holiday in Barbados chartering a boat for a day's big game fishing is not out of the question.

Sailing in the Caribbean carries such a romantic image and the weather conditions in general make for sublime sailing, with calm seas and light cooling breezes that will take any reasonable sailing craft along at a decent pace. The concept of activity holidays being the norm rather than the unusual is being actively encouraged whilst at the same time keeping a careful eye on preserving the natural beauty of Barbados.