I am not quite sure how we did it, but I saw it happening when my wife and I lived in Maryland. When we arrived there in 1998 Barbados was known only to the cognoscenti, but we began to hear the country being mentioned in the media with increasing frequency.
Tiger Woods’ wedding and Serena Williams’ first visit raised our visibility, and Rihanna has of course sealed our reputation. By the time we left Maryland last year, Barbados was a household name, and everyone we met wanted to visit. The onslaught of the economic crisis has not materially altered Barbados’ economic priorities or the constraints which those policies must respect.