Tourism Services Exports and Economic Growth in Barbados Troy Lorde Brian Francis Department of Economics, University of West Indies, Bridgetown, St. Michael, Barbados Lisa Drakes Research Department, Central Bank of Barbados, Tom Adams Financial Center, St. Michael, Barbados This article investigated the relationship between tourism and economic growth in Barbados from 1974–2004 using the tech- niques of multivariate cointegration, causality testing, and inno- vation accounting. Findings reveal the existence of a long-run relationship between tourist activity and economic growth. However, the nature of the directional relationship and the impor- tance of the real exchange rate as an important determinant appear to be dependent on how output is specified and the statisti- cal techniques employed. Still, our results provide justification for the Government of Barbados’ objective of investing in its tourism industry as a means of stimulating growth over the long term. As there is an indication that forward and backward linkages are not as fully developed as they could be, and initiatives should also be put in place to foster stronger linkages between the tourism indus- try and other sectors, such as agriculture, food and beverage, and Correspondence should be addressed to Troy Lorde, Department of Economics, University of West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, P.O. Box 64, Bridgetown, St. Michael, Barbados. E-mail: troy.lorde@ cavehill.uwi.edu 205 THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE JOURNAL, Volume 25, No. 2, April–June 2011 ISSN: 0885-3908 print/1521-0545 online. DOI: 10.1080/08853908.2011.554788