Barbados Attractions See Surge in Visitors This Holiday Season | Animal Flower Cave and Andromeda Gardens Report Increase in Foot Traffic and Bookings by Lourianne Graham

by Lourianne Graham

Popular attractions across Barbados are experiencing a significant uptick in visitors this holiday season, with at least one reporting its best numbers in a decade.

As the winter tourist season kicks into high gear, both the historic Animal Flower Cave in St Lucy and St Joseph’s Andromeda Gardens are seeing increased foot traffic and tour bookings.

Manuel Ward, owner and manager of Animal Flower Cave, the island’s oldest natural attraction, noted a slight increase in visitors this year compared to last year. He told Barbados TODAY that while their highest numbers were two years ago, he hoped this year’s numbers would surpass them.

Giving an early update on visitor trends for the winter season, Ward said: “So far yesterday we were up by, compared to the year before, we’re up by, about 10 people more yesterday (Thursday) than we did the same day last year, so that’s a good sign. I’m looking out today hopefully to do even better, and normally between now and the 5th of January is the busiest time that we will have for the season.”

Ward also gave this insight into the numbers for lunch covers at the attraction’s restaurant: “Before Christmas, I will be doing maybe 100 covers and lunch. Yesterday (Thursday) we did 210 covers at lunch, so that shows you the jump, right? And

I’m hoping today that I can do about because last year on the 27th, which is a year ago today, I did 327 for lunch. So I’m hoping today will be another 320 or in that area.”

The Animal Flower Cave offers both tours and dining, with visitors combining the two experiences or opting for one.

Ward said: “Some people go to the cave and then come and have lunch. Some people come and have lunch and then go to the cave. Some people come into the cave and don’t come to lunch. Some people come and have lunch and don’t go to the cave, you can’t say that there are always people that go in the cave who will come for lunch. Sometimes you might have a lot of people that come into the restaurant and don’t go in the cave.”

After January 5, Ward expects a drop in visitor numbers as many tourists return to their home countries.

He also noted that most weekday visitors are tourists, while weekends see a mix of locals and tourists, with a spike during the holiday period.

He said: “We’re hoping that everything will go good until Easter, which is again a very peak period. Two weeks of the Easter holidays, we also have Errol Barrow Day where we have the sail around the island, the Mount Gay ‘round-the-island sail, so we got a lot of locals that come up and sit on the tables and have lunch and watch the yachts go by.”