The cultural heritage programme is intended to meet the expectations of the visitor who is seeking an authentic Barbadian experience. This is a direct response to market research which indicates that today’s visitor is a more discerning individual who is seeking to experience the culture of the destination of choice, as well as interact with the local people. In other words, that visitor is looking for a vacation that is meaningful, filled with ‘on the ground’ experiences.

To this end, the Ministry of Tourism is endeavouring to undertake projects under its cultural heritage portfolio that will create opportunities for Barbados to focus on penetrating and sustaining itself in the cultural heritage niche market whilst at the same time, stimulating economic activities in the local communities involved.  Brief overviews of two of the Ministry’s cultural heritage projects are provided below.

The Barbados Slave Route Signage Project

The Barbados Slave Route Signage Project was first launched in 2003. It comprises the placement of interpretative signage across the landscape of Barbados with the primary purpose of identifying and interpreting those sites and places of memory that are related to the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

The project is being executed as a collaborative effort of the Ministry of Tourism, the Barbados Tourism Authority, the Barbados Museum and Historical Society and UNESCO. Its main objective is “to foster economic and human development and to restore and promote the tangible and intangible heritage, handed down by the slave trade for the purposes of the development of cultural tourism”.

A major output of the project is the development of a ‘Barbados Slave Route heritage Trail and Tour’.  Under phase one of the project, five sites and places of memory have already been identified for signage and will therefore form the nucleus of the heritage tour. Those sites are:

  Gun Hill, St. George

  Sweet Bottom, St. George

  Bourne’s Land, Christ Church

  The Newton Burial Site

  The Cage, Bridgetown

The Barbados Carolina Connection

The Barbados Carolina Connection has its beginnings in the 1997 Twinning of the cities of Speightstown, Barbados and Charleston, South Carolina, which recognised the strong historical links that had been in existence between the two cities since the 17th century. The Barbados Carolina Committee was also launched at this time with the primary purpose of maintaining and strengthening the links established with the Twinning Agreement.

The Twinning Agreement articulated a number of objectives including the interchange of information which would assist with the promotion of heritage tourism in Barbados and the Carolinas. The agreement also promoted the exchange of people, information, experiences and ideas that relate to all areas of cultural, national and community life.

Since the Twinning Agreement, there have been some cultural interactions and exchanges between the two destinations. These include Barbados’ participation in the Charleston Garden and Moja festivals in 1999, Barbados’ observation of the South Carolina Heritage Tourism Product in 2002 and Barbados’ participation in the travelling art exhibition which is now ongoing and which is intended to assist in extending the Heritage Corridor to Barbados, thereby forming a tangible link between Barbados and the Carolinas.

This interaction will be continued over the course of the 2008-2011 triennium as the Ministry spearheads other planned initiatives.