Above: Barbados (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Barbados is looking to take back the Canadian tourism market, according to Prime Minister Freundel Stuart.

The Prime Minister was speaking during a reception for Canadians at Ilaro Court, his residence, last week.

“There was a time when Canada was Barbados’ principal source market for tourists. You are not that now, but we do not intend that that situation should endure for very much longer,” Stuart said. “Your presence here tonight is intended to be, among other things, a signal that we must recapture the Canadian market.”

Stuart pointed to former Prime Ministers of Canada including John Diefenbaker and Pierre Trudeau, who had visited the island on a number of occasions.

So far this year, Barbados has seen a 7.2 percent drop in tourism from Canada, the largest of any source market to the island, according to data from the Caribbean Tourism Organization.

A total of 46,695 tourists from Canada visited Barbados in the first nine months of 2014.