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B M & T ••• September/October 2026 ••• www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 36 BARBADOS A large or mid-sized meeting delegation can easi- ly be accommodated at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre in St. Micheal, Barbados. The facility offers more than 100,000 square feet of usable floor space, including 70,000 square feet of exhibit space. It has 11 meeting rooms, the largest with a maximum capacity of 1,400. The island's largest ballroom can be found at the Wyndham Grand Barbados Sam Lord's Castle, an all-inclusive resort located an hour's drive from the capital city of Bridgetown. The 10,000-sq.-ft. Trident Grand Ballroom can hold up to 700 guests for banquets or up to 1,000 guests seated theater-style. Beach and water sports lovers will of course find plenty to keep them occupied on the island. But one of Barbados' most memo- rable attractions takes visitors away from the shore and under- ground. A tram tour of Harrison's Cave offers closeup views of the streams, deep pools and giant icicle-like mineral deposits inside the limestone cav- ern. Barbados is also home to a couple of notable attractions highlighting the island's Black heritage and heroes. The Barbados Museum near Bridgetown features several African heritage exhibits among more than 270,000 historical artifacts. Inside the city there's Golden Square Freedom Park, which contains public art installations, a mural and a memorial wall commemorating local activist Clayton Payne and the 1937 labor uprising he inspired. A tourism program with a personal touch called Dine With A Bajan lets visitors enjoy authentic Barbadian hospitality, cuisine and even cooking lessons in local homes. 252 JAMAICA One of Jamaica's top meeting venues is the multi- ple award-winning Montego Bay Convention Centre in Rose Hall, which has hosted numerous international conferences, trade shows and cultural events. The center contains a 57,525-sq.-ft. exhibition hall that's divisible into two spaces, nine multi-pur- pose meeting rooms and a 18,684-sq.-ft. ballroom that can be split into three spaces. The 25,524-sq.-ft. outdoor courtyard and 17,954-sq.-ft. ocean view terrace can accommodate groups seeking a spot for open air gatherings. The Montego Bay Convention Center is a 15 minute drive from Sangster International Airport, where you arrange for your meeting or incentive group to get a VIP reception in a Club Mobay lounge and fast- tracked processing when they arrive. Meeting attendees looking for ways to pass some leisure time in Mobay might be interested in a tour of the Montpelier Estate. An old sugar facto- ry on the estate is a remnant of the 18th century sugar plantation that the site once was. Today, the attraction draws visitors for views of the Montpellier waterfall and activities like hiking, kayaking down the Great River, and ziplining through the jungle. Hotels and resorts throughout the island offer meeting and event spaces to accommodate groups of various sizes, along with easy access to a wide range of sightseeing attractions and activities. For example, Dunn's River Falls is considered a must-see for visi- tors to Ocho Rios, while any reggae lover traveling to Kingston won't want to miss the Bob Marley Museum at the home of Jamaica's biggest music leg- end. TRINIDAD & TOBAGO The largest meeting venue in Trinidad & Tobago is at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad in Port of Spain, which offers 43,000 square feet of total meeting Traditional Bahamas Junkanoo Band Montego Bay Convention Centre