While we do need to have balanced growth, and I am a great advocate of that approach, we should not be apologetic about the fact that the tourism sector has outperformed all others. Foreign exchange earnings The foreign exchange earning capacity of the sector has helped to offset some of the downside risks of the country’s debt levels.
Earning as it did about $ billion in foreign exchange in 2003 (expected to rise to $ billion in 2004) contributing to close to 16% of gross domestic product, and employing over 11% of the labour force; the sector has contributed handsomely to the economic performance of the Barbadian economy even when international developments have presented tremendous challenges.