Barbados has appointed prominent businessman and former national field hockey player Peter Harris as chairman of Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. as the island posted a solid 3.3% increase in stay-over tourist arrivals for 2025.
Harris, executive chairman of PVH Group Inc., succeeds businesswoman Shelly Williams, who served four years in the role, Tourism and International Transport Minister Ian Gooding-Edghill confirmed in a statement. The appointment is intended to accelerate the island’s tourism growth through expanded airlift and deeper penetration of emerging markets.
“The (new) board reflects a range of skills needed to further advance Barbados’ tourism success,” Gooding-Edghill stated. “The primary purpose of the board is to implement Barbados’ tourism marketing strategies to ensure consistent brand awareness globally and to achieve year-on-year growth in visitor arrivals.”
Harris will be supported by Gayle Talma as deputy chair, Sheldene Matthews-Mottley, Andrea Brome, Carol Roberts-Reifer, Ronnie Carrington, Jo-ann Roett, Patrica Affonso-Dass, Kevyn Yearwood, Nicholas Parker, Paul Collymore, Senator Ryan Forde, Cicely Callender and Permanent Secretary Francine Blackman.
Barbados recorded 727,310 stay-over visitors in 2025, up 3.3% from 2024. The island also welcomed 702,278 cruise passengers, a strong 12.9% increase.
The performance helped contribute to the Caribbean region’s overall 2.5% growth in stop-over arrivals, which reached an estimated 35 million last year. Barbados saw gains from key source markets, including an 8.1% increase from the United States and 3.5% from Canada, although European arrivals fell 3.4%.
A Combermere School alumnus, Harris co-founded CGI Insurance in 1993 and has built the PVH Group into a diversified company with interests in insurance, real estate, tourism, entertainment, media and health care. He is known for business innovations such as roadside assistance programs and remains an active sportsman who represented Barbados in field hockey at both junior and senior levels.
Minister Gooding-Edghill stressed the need to push forward amid global headwinds. “There’s a significant amount of work to be done to accelerate our tourism growth strategy, especially considering the global geopolitical climate,” the minister said. “Our successful airlift strategy will continue to be one of the key pillars central to our tourism growth strategy,” he continued, thanking Williams for her tenure.