Caribbean always works: St. Barth advertises with festivals and luxury shopping

St Barth, that sounds like dream beaches and great hotels - and a top destination for well-heeled yacht owners or charter customers. Most of them want to escape the European winter. But the Caribbean island is worth a visit all year round.

Saint Barthélmy would also like to increase its activities outside the main winter season and the major event St. Barth Bucket Regatta attract so-called "maritime tourists" in March. To make the Caribbean island even more attractive, the tourism office - now headed by Alexandra Questel - is promoting the St. Barth Cata Cup (19 to 23 November 2025, a cat race with 60 participants), jazz concerts in April and a large gourmet festival in November.

Duel of the top chefs

The St. Barth Gourmet Festival is running for the twelfth time this year (4 to 9 November 2025) and brings together a number of mainly French star chefs. Highlights of the event include a caviar masterclass and a bartender competition at the Eden Rock Hotel.

In addition, the well-known celebrity chef Cyril Lignac will open a new bar. After locations in Paris, London and Dubai, there will also be the Bar des Prés Saint-Barth.

Shopping in the harbour of Gustavia

The focus of St. Barth's efforts is the port of the capital Gustavia, which can accommodate yachts up to 60 metres long. Maximum draught: 4.50 metres. The complete service is there, including solar power and water treatment. From 2023 to 2024, the number of yacht passengers increased by almost nine per cent. 59 per cent of visitors to the port come from the USA, almost 29 per cent from Europe.

On land, the finest dining options beckon, with almost half of the island's 65 restaurants located here. There are also boutiques with luxury brands such as Dior and Rolex, which obviously sell well: in 2023, luxury goods worth 75 million euros were imported to St. Barth, including watches for 34.7 million and jewellery for 19 million euros.