Last year, Caribbean Journal launched the first-ever Caribbean Travel Awards to honor the hotels, destinations and people who help make Caribbean travel better. And we’re doing it again this year, looking at the region both from the perspective of the people who travel to the Caribbean and the impact the tourism industry has on this beautiful part of the world. Here are the Caribbean Travel Awards for 2015

Caribbean Destination of the Year – Barbados

It’s been a banner year for the island of Barbados, which has reported the region’s fastest-growing tourism arrivals in large part due to a creative, digital-friendly push in the US market and the results of a restructured tourism marketing entity. Barbados has seen a 14.5 percent improvement in tourist arrivals so far this year, buoyed by a whopping 27.9 percent improvement in arrivals from the US. That success, coupled with a wave of new hotel development that includes recently-opened Sandals Barbados and a major new Wyndham project, puts the island at the forefront of the region’s tourism sector. We’re proud to name Barbados the Caribbean Destination of the Year for 2015.