Economic Activities in the Caribbean

Mining, drilling, tourism and agriculture are key economic activities in the Caribbean. These activities fuel business and investment in developing regions. While agriculture remains a traditional way of earning income and is a vital part of a sustainable economy, it has given way to tourism, mining and drilling as a mainstay of the Caribbean economy.

Petroleum, natural gas, bauxite, gold and asphalt are some of the underground natural resources that attract mining and drilling interests. Jamaica and Guyana have gold and bauxite reserves, and Trinidad and Tobago has extensive drilling operations in petroleum, natural gas and asphalt.

Tourism is big business in the Caribbean, where several countries depend on revenue from foreign visitors. Tourists visit the Caribbean to experience the exotic, natural beauty and sand, sea and sun. Caribbean nations frequently capitalize on historic landmarks, nature and festivals to attract tourists while constructing infrastructures to accommodate visitors. Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Martinique, Guadeloupe and Grenada are the Caribbean nations that have well-developed tourism.

Caribbean nations produce and export bananas, citrus fruit, cocoa, sugar cane, mangoes and coconuts. The Caribbean has fertile land where farmers plant their crops, although subsistence farming is not as popular as it used to be. Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Guyana have lucrative sugar industries. Banana farms in the Caribbean are situated in Belize, Suriname, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Jamaica, Grenada, Dominica and St. Lucia.