Greene Says Barbuda’s Development Targets High-End Tourism, Not Mass Market
Foreign Affairs Minister E.P. Chet Greene said Barbuda’s development strategy is focused on high-end tourism rather than mass tourism, positioning the sister island differently from regional competitors.
Speaking on Government in Motion, Greene said Barbuda’s airport expansion and related investments are designed to support an upscale tourism model aligned with international luxury travel.
“It’s high-end,” Greene said. “We’re not going for this mass tourism that other countries go for. We’re going for high-end tourism.”
He said developments on Barbuda are attracting visitors who arrive via private aircraft and yachts, creating a distinct tourism niche.
“Most of the persons who are part of the PLH project, for example, have their own private jets, their own yachts,” Greene said. “So it’s a different level of tourism bringing benefit to Antigua and Barbuda, in this instance Barbuda.”
Greene said the growth of Barbuda’s tourism sector is reshaping its role within the national economy and narrowing long-standing economic disparities between the two islands.
“Everything commercial happened in Antigua,” he said. “Barbuda had to come to Antigua to do all the shopping. Everything really was around Antigua.”
He said that dynamic is changing as development accelerates on Barbuda.
“Now we are seeing equity, we are seeing development in Barbuda which matches or mirrors, in some instances eclipses what’s happening in Antigua,” Greene said.
He added that current projects on Barbuda exceed most existing developments on the mainland.
“That PLH project alone in Barbuda is superior to anything we have on Antigua, save and except for Jumby Bay,” Greene said.
Greene said improved air access supports the island’s upscale tourism ambitions and allows direct travel by private aircraft.
“Small jets, as we speak, can land directly in Barbuda,” he said. “That itself means a whole lot to the aviation industry.”
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