Ways to Invest in the Caribbean: A Report and Diaspora Guide
Important notice. This report is an informational guide only. It is not financial, legal, tax or investment advice, and the author is not a licensed advisor. Every Caribbean country has its own laws on foreign ownership, land, banking, tax and business licensing. If you intend to invest, research each country's official guidelines carefully, do your own due diligence, and consult qualified professionals before committing any money.
Two regional gatherings in the same week of October 2026 sent one message: the Caribbean must scale up, invest together, and keep more of the value it creates. SOTIC 2026 met in Georgetown, Guyana, and the Caribbean Investment Forum (CIF 2026) met in Bridgetown, Barbados, both from 5 October.
Three themes ran through both events:
Scale and ambition. President Irfaan Ali told tourism leaders to "scale up" or be left behind by the Middle East and Latin America. Prime Minister Mia Mottley told investors that US$20–30 million deals "will not cut it" and that the region must think in hundreds of millions or billions.
Connectivity and transport. Both leaders named transport as the region's biggest weakness. Ali called for an integrated regional transport system; Mottley's priority for the Caribbean Development Bank was "transport, transport, transport."
Local and regional value chains. Speakers urged hotels and industries to buy from Caribbean farmers and producers, to stop relying on a single supply market, and to use the region's own savings for investment.
For the diaspora, the most practical openings are supplying the tourism industry, small tourism businesses, new savings vehicles such as the planned Trident Arrow Investment Fund and Guyana's diaspora bond, skills transfer, and the creative economy.
Key figures shared at SOTIC:
Guyana recorded 453,489 visitor arrivals in 2025, a record and a 22% rise on 2024, and 360,623 in the first nine months of 2026.
Guyana has added 12 new airlines since 2020 and nine internationally branded hotels, and hosted more than 18 conferences in 2026.
The Caribbean welcomed about 35 million stayover visitors in 2025, above pre-pandemic levels, with regional hotel occupancy around 65%.
Average spending per tourist in Latin America and the Caribbean is about 20% below the global average, according to the IDB.
CIF 2026 focused on four sectors: sustainable agriculture, the green economy, logistics and transportation, and the digitisation of business (Caribbean Export; Barbados Today).
Report from SOTIC 2026: Where the speakers said to invest
The SOTIC opening ceremony asked the region to move from attracting visitors to capturing value from them. Each speaker's investment ideas are summarised below, from the CTO's live stream of 7 October.
President Irfaan Ali, Keynote
Ali set aside his prepared remarks to argue that "tourism is being defined by investment," above all in transport.
Transport and connectivity: an integrated regional transport system, so visitors can combine island beaches with the forests and rivers of Guyana, Suriname and Belize.
Airports as experiences: terminals that tell a national story, such as Guyana's new Terminal 2; plus two regional airports, a deep-water port, new roads, a new city and housing in Guyana.
Resilient projects: build every project for resilience, market, experience, expectation and storytelling. Write disaster contingency clauses into investment deals from day one, backed by resilience financing, insurance and pre-arranged credit.
Regional supply chains: source hotel food from local and regional farmers, and invest in products such as Caribbean coconut water.
New products: theme parks (for example, a tropical forest night safari in Guyana), luxury and branded hospitality, integrated resorts, conferences and expos, heritage, adventure, and regenerative tourism.
Events: jointly target 10 major global events for the region by 2035.
Digital and people: digital tourism on streaming platforms, a regional AI strategy, a regional cybersecurity strategy, workforce development, and data that measures tourism's full impact.
Partnerships and markets: partner with the Middle East rather than try to outspend it, and integrate with Latin America, including making Spanish compulsory.
Easier entry: faster e-visas and biometrics for visitors.
Minister Susan Rodrigues, Guyana
Guyana's hotels, airlines and conference business show investor confidence.
Value from community lodges, local crafts, local food and local guides should stay in those communities.
The new Guyana Development Bank offers zero-interest, collateral-free loans to tourism businesses and small enterprises.
The region should cooperate on air links, tourism data and joint marketing.
Ivan Alonso, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
Keep tourism money in the region through more local suppliers and more Caribbean ownership, and treat the region as one market.
The IDB is helping the CTO build a regional tourism supply-chain framework and logistics hub strategy.
Growth segments include business and conference travel, digital nomads, remote workers and long-stay visitors.
IDB Invest put US$22 million into the 172-room Four Points by Sheraton in Georgetown, which aims to source up to 40% of its food and drink locally.
Ian Gooding-Edghill, outgoing CTO chair
Multi-destination packages, such as Barbados's agreement with Dominica, and Barbados as an air hub for the Eastern Caribbean.
The CTO's Reimagine Tourism 2025–2027 plan covers cruise, yachting, ferry connectivity, finance and events.
Dr D'Arcy Dornan, Good Travel Institute
Sustainability certification lowers costs and risk, and gives investors and lenders credible proof of performance.
Minister Steven Jacobs, Culture, Youth and Sport
Cultural spaces, creative events (including CARIFESTA 2027 in Guyana), sports tourism, and the orange (creative) economy, where the government is inviting the diaspora to help shape policy.
Report from the Caribbean Investment Forum: Prime Minister Mia Mottley's address
Opening CIF 2026 on 6 October, Mottley pitched about 12 projects in a Barbados resilience plan worth about US$11 billion (BDS$22 billion) over the next decade. Her core message to roughly 500 delegates was that "success is a habit" and that "without scale, there is no transformation."
The investment opportunities she named
Barbados resilience plan: a desalination plant, battery storage, solar (photovoltaic) plants, an aggregate facility at the port, a data centre for national and regional use, and major real estate projects.
Transport: her top priority for the Caribbean Development Bank, including faster container logistics and inter-island ferries for people who cannot afford high airfares.
Industries built on energy: oil and gas output in Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and soon Suriname as a platform for other businesses across the region.
Diversified supply chains: recent export bans on diesel, natural gas and ventilators showed the risk of depending on one supply market.
Services exported with technology: for example, legal services to the wider Commonwealth common-law market, and better digital marketing of Caribbean goods.
Her points on capital and ownership
The region has its own money. Caribbean bank deposits total about US$80 billion, much of it earning little interest. Redirecting even 2–5% into investment would make a significant difference.
Trident Arrow Investment Fund: a joint Barbados–Guyana fund for ordinary citizens to invest in infrastructure, utilities, technology and agro-processing. She expected it to be established before the end of 2026.
Scale up: a major forum should aim for US$250 million or US$2.5 billion, not US$25 million.
Reforms she called for
Mutual recognition of companies across CARICOM within the next year.
Faster, more reliable land transactions, which she called a major economic drag.
Better understanding of intellectual property, so Caribbean ideas earn returns for their creators.
More use of CARICOM trade agreements with the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and Colombia, which many businesses do not know about.
Continuous workforce training, and incentives that require tourism businesses to support other sectors. Barbados awards over BDS$850 million in tax incentives each year.
A Guide for the diaspora: how the average person can take part
You do not need millions to share in this growth; the realistic entry points are savings vehicles, small businesses, skills and being part of the market. These are the seven routes that came out of both events.
1. Put savings into regional vehicles
Trident Arrow Investment Fund (Barbados–Guyana). Announced in May 2026 so ordinary citizens can own stakes in infrastructure, utilities, technology and agro-processing. Mottley said in October she expected it to be set up before the end of 2026 (Caribbean Today).
Guyana diaspora bond. President Ali said Guyana is preparing a bond for Guyanese abroad to fund infrastructure (Guyana Chronicle).
Both are still being set up. Check who is eligible, the minimum amount, expected returns, currency and how you can get your money out before you commit.
2. Supply the tourism industry
Hotels are being pushed to buy locally; the Four Points in Georgetown aims for up to 40% local food and drink. Food production, processed products such as coconut water, crafts, furniture, laundry and transport services are all in demand. A partner on the ground is usually essential.
3. Start or co-own a small tourism business
Guesthouses, villas, tour companies and community lodges suit diaspora budgets. Speakers stressed that value should stay in local communities, so partnering with communities tends to work better than buying in from outside. In Guyana, ask whether the Development Bank's zero-interest loans are open to diaspora members; this was not stated.
4. Bring your skills home, in person or remotely
Workforce shortages, training, data, AI and cybersecurity were named as gaps by Ali, the IDB and Mottley. Consulting, training, and remote professional services can be exported across the region and the wider Commonwealth.
5. Join the creative economy
Guyana's orange-economy consultation is inviting the diaspora, and CARIFESTA 2027 comes to Guyana. Ali pointed to Qatar's use of streaming shows to sell itself; Caribbean film, photography and digital storytelling are an open gap.
6. Be the market
The US is one of Guyana's two largest source markets, much of it diaspora travel. Booking local businesses, organising group trips, and steering conferences and family events to the region all move money where speakers want it. Remote workers and long-stay visitors are a growth segment the IDB named.
7. Use regional trade rules if you run a business
Mottley said many businesses miss benefits under CARICOM agreements with the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and Colombia. Mutual recognition of companies across CARICOM, if achieved, would make it easier to operate in several islands at once.
Comments