Above: Bridgetown (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Barbados continues to see tourism growth from Canada, according to Foreign Minister Maxine McClean.

Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States have traditionally been the country’s largest source markets, but a “renewed tourism thrust” in Canada has brought “significant increases in Canadian arrivals,” she said.

The Foreign Minister was speaking following a recent courtesy call from newly-appointed Canadian High Commissioner to Barbados Richard Hanley.

The new High Commissioner said that both nations maintained a “mutually beneficial relationship,” calling Barbados a “stable, secure destination and an attractive place to visit.”

Barbados is looking to enhance its overall relationship with Canada, she said.

“Barbados is an international jurisdiction which operates an open, transparent financial services regime, and we are happy that Canada is an important part of that,” McClean said.

In an interview with Caribbean Journal last year, Barbados Tourism Minister Richard Sealy said Canada, the UK and the US had been jockeying in recent years for top spot in terms of source markets to Barbados.