Top Barbados Resources

The Barbadian people will tell you that there is so much more to see and do in Barbados than just what you see in the brochure.

Whether its a holiday, on business, or for a short break Barbados is increasing in popularity amongst us Brits - and rightly so!

Thats why its important to get your travel plans sorted out properly, and in our opinion, flight, holiday and hotel specialists Opodo offer the best service online - but you can find that out for yourself here...

Slavery in Barbados was finally ended in 1838, and newly-emancipated blacks celebrated with instruments including drums and horns, as well as banjos, tambourines and xylophones. Still, however, the use of horns and drums was discouraged, leading to the primacy of vocal music; at the same time, new Protestant churches from North American moved into the island, bringing with them American parlor music, cowboy songs and revivalist hymns.

With the slave population approaching three times the white population, many slave owners feared revolts. This led to the Slave Consolidation Act in 1826, which reaffirmed the ban on drums and horns. Christian missionaries also discouraged the performance of African music, which pushed the field underground, where it was passed through secret societies and rituals.

Barbados is mainly composed of coral-limestone. It is tropical with constant tradewinds and consists of some marshes and mangrove swamps. Some parts of the island's interior are also dotted with large sugarcane estates and wide pastures with many good views to the sea. Barbados is one of the Lesser Antilles and it lies to the east of the main chain of islands, with the nations of Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines being its closest neighbours.

The start of the Port Charles Marina project in Speightstown helped the tourism industry continue to expand in 1996-99. Offshore finance and informatics are important foreign exchange earners, and there is also a light manufacturing sector. The government continues its efforts to reduce the unacceptably high unemployment rate, encourage direct foreign investment, and privatize remaining state-owned enterprises.

British sailors who landed on Barbados in the 1620s at the site of present-day Holetown on the Caribbean coast found the island uninhabited. As elsewhere in the eastern Caribbean, Arawak Indians may have been annihilated by invading Caribs, who are believed to have subsequently abandoned the island.

Barbados has one of the highest standards of living and literacy rates in the world and is currently according to the UN, the #1 developing country in the world. The island is a major tourist destination.

In May 1997, Prime Minister Owen Arthur hosted President Clinton and 14 other Caribbean leaders during the first-ever U.S.-regional summit in Bridgetown, Barbados. The summit strengthened the basis for regional cooperation on justice and counternarcotics issues, finance and development, and trade.

In the 1980s, jazz decline dgreatly in popularity, though saxophonist Arturo Tappin organized the International Barbados/Caribbean Jazz Festival, while other performances were organized by a group called the Friends of Jazz. More jazz calypso fusion musicians appeared on the scene during this period, including Janice Robertson and her Trinidadian husband Raf

The island of Barbados has a single major airport, the Sir Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA) (IATA identifier BGI). The Grantley Adams Airport receives daily flights by several major airlines, from points around the globe, as well as several smaller regional commercial airlines and charters. The airport serves as the main air-transportation hub for the Eastern Caribbean. The airport is currently under-going a US$100 Million upgrade and expansion.

The largest Carnival cultural events which take place in Barbados are the Congaline Festival and Crop Over Festival as known internationally.