Businesses in main shopping district say tourists not spending

Despite a boom in cruise tourism and projections for a record-breaking winter season, some major Bridgetown retailers say the surge in arrivals has not translated into meaningful business, with many reporting weak foot traffic and limited tourist spending in the island’s main commercial district.

In June, the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association announced that Barbados was set for a record winter cruise season, with nearly 500 cruise ships scheduled to arrive at the Port of Bridgetown between late 2025 and early 2026.

Speaking at the BHTA’s annual general meeting at Wyndham Barbados, chairman Javon Griffith said cruise arrivals were projected to rise by 22 per cent to an estimated 850 000 passengers, up from 695 000 the previous season.

He revealed that Barbados was expected to host 19 cruise lines, ranging from mass market operators such as P&O Cruises, Marella and MSC Cruises to luxury brands including Seabourn, Silversea, Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, Scenic, Explora Journeys, Windstar and SeaDream.

On December 7 alone, five cruise ships brought just under 11 500 passengers to the island in one of the busiest single days so far this winter, while the Port of Bridgetown is projecting 438 cruise ship calls this season, up from 388 last winter, including 205 homeport calls.

Despite those projections, owner of The Royal Shop, Hiranand Thani said the increased cruise activity had not resulted in the expected uplift for Bridgetown retailers.

“What we would like to see is a little bit more traffic on Broad Street. Something done to be able to bring more tourist traffic on Broad Street. That is what Broad Street is actually lacking,” Thani lamented.

While he acknowledged there had been efforts to improve the area, he said more decisive action was needed.

“We need to go at least two extra miles. Not just an extra mile, two extra miles to make Broad Street full of traffic because we need that. We need the traffic. We had a lot of cruise ships here,” Thani pointed out.

Thani said there was a disconnect between the national tourism figures and the reality on the ground for retailers.

“For me, hearing the reports coming in, the cruise ships are up, hotel stays are up, but we’re not seeing the traffic on Broad Street. We’re glad to have the tourists, but we’re not seeing traffic on Broad Street,” he said.

He pointed to changes in visitor movement patterns, noting that many cruise passengers were bypassing the shopping district altogether.

“Hardly much of that is coming on Broad Street. They are taking the boardwalk and they’re going down to the beaches,” he said, adding that while beach activity was positive, it did not generate the same economic returns for retail.

“From the retail point of view, we’re not seeing that traffic where that extra tourist dollar is being spent.”

Thani stressed that shopping generated far greater foreign exchange earnings than casual spending elsewhere.

“When the tourists spend in shopping in Barbados, it’s a huge amount of foreign exchange that they spend. Going to the beach to buy a beer and all of that, that’s not that much foreign exchange,” he contended.

Thani argued that while the island’s overall tourism strategy had been successful, more targeted attention was needed for the retail sector.

“The island is doing well, we have done the good things, but we need to go see beyond that and know how to do more for Broad Street, how to do more for retail and duty free trade,” he said, adding that other major stores were expressing similar concerns.

Managing Director of Abed’s, Eddy Abed said cruise passengers generally made limited purchases in The City and that many businesses were not structured to rely directly on tourist spending.

Abed, who is also the chairman of the Bridgetown Revitalisation Committee, explained that many Bridgetown businesses benefited indirectly by supplying hotels and restaurants rather than selling to visitors themselves.

“Cruise passengers will come in and look for the odd item, maybe a souvenir, or some of them want to buy tropical fabrics with Barbados on it, that sort of thing, but we’re not really geared for tourists, truthfully,” Abed said.
Addressing the broader challenges facing the capital, he said longstanding structural issues continued to affect foot traffic.

“Our biggest hurdle has been that almost 3 000 government jobs left Bridgetown almost 20 years ago, and we’ve not been able to replace that footfall. We’ve not been able to replace that captive market,” Abed said.
He noted that vacant storefronts reflected the absence of consistent activity.

“There’s a reason why Broad Street is half empty. The branded stores just don’t see enough tourists there that it would warrant them to open a store,” he said.

Abed said planned developments, including new hotels and mixed-use projects were expected to change the dynamics of Bridgetown over time, but not immediately.

“We’re still four or five years away,” he said, adding that incremental steps were needed in the interim. “We need entertainment, we need food, we need culture, we need enough different sorts of attractions to get people coming into Bridgetown at least a few times a year. We can’t wait for just Christmas and back to school.”

Similar sentiments were expressed by Managing Director of F W Woolworth, Martin Bryan, who said cruise passengers were visible in the store but did not significantly boost sales.

“We did see cruise passengers in here [but] it is not a big money spin for us, a lot of them browse. A key ring, maybe buy a T-shirt, but we don’t see a lot of spend from any cruise ship passengers,” Bryan said, while suggesting that on-board shopping and destination choices were influencing spending behaviour.

“These big cruise ships have their own shopping on board now. Some cruise ships are directing the passengers to shop in other islands, which may be cheaper than Barbados.”

As a result, he said, those who came into Bridgetown were more focused on sightseeing than shopping.

“They will pop in the store, but the average spend is not there,” Bryan noted.

sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb