New research argues that the foundations of today’s luxury tourism industry in the Caribbean are deeply rooted in Britain’s colonial plantation system, with patterns of land ownership, labour and wealth extraction continuing to shape the region’s most exclusive destinations.
From plantations to paradise branding
According to the research, many of the Caribbean’s high-end resorts and private estates occupy land once dominated by sugar plantations worked by enslaved Africans. While the outward imagery has shifted from coercion to leisure, the underlying structures — large estates, foreign ownership and export-oriented profits — remain strikingly similar. Plantation houses have been converted into boutique hotels, while former agricultural lands now host golf courses, villas and gated resorts marketed to wealthy international visitors.
The study argues that this transformation has allowed colonial wealth to be symbolically rebranded rather than dismantled.
Colonial capital and modern ownership
British colonial elites accumulated vast fortunes through Caribbean plantations, profits that were often reinvested in land, infrastructure and financial networks overseas. Researchers note that descendants of these systems — including offshore companies, foreign investors and multinational hotel groups — still dominate ownership of prime tourism assets.
As a result, a significant share of tourism revenue continues to flow out of the region, echoing colonial-era extraction patterns despite tourism being promoted as a development engine for island economies.
Labour hierarchies that persist
The research also highlights continuity in labour structures. While slavery has long been abolished, the tourism sector often relies on low-paid service work, with limited opportunities for advancement into ownership or senior management. Locals frequently staff hotels, restaurants and attractions, while strategic control and capital accumulation remain concentrated abroad.
Scholars argue that this division mirrors plantation-era hierarchies, where Caribbean labour supported lifestyles and wealth elsewhere.
Cultural erasure and selective history
Luxury tourism marketing often emphasises pristine beaches, heritage architecture and “timeless elegance”, while downplaying or omitting the violent histories associated with plantation sites. Former slave quarters are rarely preserved or contextualised, while great houses are celebrated as romantic symbols of colonial charm.
The research suggests this selective storytelling contributes to historical amnesia, allowing visitors to consume colonial aesthetics without confronting their origins.
Rethinking tourism and reparative models
Critics of the current model argue that tourism policy must move beyond growth metrics and address questions of ownership, land rights and historical justice. Proposals include community-led tourism, profit-sharing frameworks, heritage projects that centre enslaved histories, and stronger taxation of foreign-owned luxury assets.
Some Caribbean governments and activists see these reforms as part of a broader conversation about reparations and post-colonial economic restructuring.
A legacy still shaping the present
The study concludes that Caribbean luxury tourism cannot be fully understood without acknowledging its imperial foundations. Far from being a clean break from the past, today’s resorts often sit atop economic and social systems forged during empire.
As the region debates its future development path, the research suggests that confronting this legacy is essential if tourism is to become a genuinely inclusive and restorative industry rather than a rebranded continuation of colonial extraction.
Newshub Editorial in the Caribbean – 16 December 2025
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