The festival fever was strong as the BTMI's annual Crop Over Mega Familiarization (FAM) Trip welcomed over forty media from the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States of America and the Caribbean and Latin America markets to the island. The week-long FAM showcased the world's sweetest summer festival to the international journalists and influencers, and allowed them the opportunity to experience exciting moments to authentically showcase Barbados on their various platforms. From breakfast parties to Foreday Morning and of course, Grand Kadooment Day, their itineraries were jam-packed with the best of Crop Over.

Check out @thebtmi on Instagram and Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. on Facebook to see how it all unfolded!

TeamBTMI is celebrating ten years of the Barbados Food and Rum Festival with a spectacular launch on August 24, 2019 at the historic St. Ann's Fort, the Garrison, St. Michael. Since its inception as the Barbados Food, Wine and Rum Festival, this annual event has not only been rebranded to focus on Barbados' authentic claim to rum, but has grown into one of the major highlights of Barbados' culinary calendar. Several local mixologists and chefs have had the opportunity to work alongside their international counterparts, and have travelled the world to showcase their talent and destination Barbados. As we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the festival, we are looking forward to a fantastic evening of mouth-watering culinary delights, tantalizing cocktails and great entertainment. This is the perfect appetizer for what we can expect between October 24 and 27, when we stage the tenth edition of the Barbados Food and Rum Festival.

For more details on the 2019 Food and Rum Festival visit https://www.visitbarbados.org/food-and-rum-festival

The BTMI is pleased to announce that Barbados has been named a Top-Rated Southern Caribbean Cruise Destination in Cruise Critic's 2019 Cruisers' Choice Destination Awards. Cruise Critic is regarded as the world's largest online cruise resource, which offers awards based exclusively on consumer ratings and reviews on their website. 2019 marks the third consecutive year that Barbados has been named one of the top five cruise destinations in the Southern Caribbean, and we are thrilled to be highly regarded by our guests. According to one Cruise Critic Member ‘Dougygreen' Barbados was chosen due to the "clearest, bluest beaches of the cruise [and] friendly locals in Bridgetown." Well done Barbados!

Destination Barbados is taking over the United Kingdom (UK) with this summer's bus wrap activation, which will see captivating imagery of Barbados being used to keep the destination top of mind. Across Ireland, Glasgow and Cardiff, #TeamBTMI will not only be raising awareness about the Barbados brand, but also giving potential visitors a compelling reason to travel to the island. In June, Barbados recorded a 2.7% increase in stay over arrivals from the UK, which is a continuation of strong performance following the first quarter's increase of 11.7% in comparison to 2018. This advertising strategy is in an effort to boost business from the United Kingdom even more, as #TeamBTMI remains committed to tourism growth across all markets.