Caribbean Luxury Resorts Called "Rebranded Plantations" in New Study

New research argues that the modern luxury tourism industry in the Caribbean is built upon a 400-year-old system of colonial wealth extraction. A study from the Common Wealth thinktank maps this historical connection. It shows how the British empire engineered economies focused on removing wealth and resources. This system, the report states, still shapes the region's tourist economies today. The research focuses on places like Barbados. Historian Sir Hilary Beckles calls it the birthplace of British slave society. Between 1640 and 1807, Britain transported approximately 387,000 enslaved Africans to the island. Life for the enslaved was brutally short. On one 18th-century plantation, 43% of newly arrived people died within three years. The average life expectancy at birth for an enslaved person in Barbados was just 29 years. The report suggests that contemporary all-inclusive resorts and cruise ships continue a pattern. They often keep visitors separated from local communities and funnel profits to foreign owners. This echoes the plantation model, researchers say. The study describes this as a shift from "agricultural plantations to tourism plantations." It connects this economic structure directly to current challenges in the region. These include climate vulnerability and widespread economic inequality.