The Democratic Labour Party (DLP) is warning that Barbados’ worsening crime situation could begin threatening the island’s tourism industry following the recent attack on a visitor near Savvy on the Bay at Bay Street, St Michael.
“To have it spill over now where tourists are actually being affected and we are having violent crimes occurring where there is tourist activity on the beach, especially, is a great cause of concern,” said Senator Ryan Walters during a press conference on crime this morning at the Errol Barrow Gallery, George Street, St Michael.
Over the weekend, a 25-year-old visitor was reportedly attacked by a group of men near Savvy on the Bay after attempting to retrieve a chain that had allegedly been snatched from his neck. The visitor sustained head injuries and bruises and was treated at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
Walters noted that Barbados recorded 49 murders in 2024 and 48 in 2025, while 2026 was already averaging roughly one killing per week and currently stands at 25. He warned that the country risked developing a negative reputation internationally if violent crime continued rising.
“We start to get a bad reputation in the industry because of our murder rate that has increased rapidly over the last couple of years,” he said.
While acknowledging that tourism arrival numbers remained strong, Walters cautioned that crime could eventually undermine the sector if left unchecked.
“The statistics show that we are still performing well . . . but the reality is that the crime situation can also have a scaling down of those arrivals, especially coming into the new season,” Walters warned.
The DLP Senator argued that greater youth intervention programmes, internships and community engagement initiatives were urgently needed to help steer young people away from criminal activity. (Colville Mounsey)
