Holiday & Travel

As the tourism sector across the Caribbean registers strong post-pandemic results, the 25-member Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) is resuming several hallmark activities and events this year to help strengthen the region’s position as the world’s leading warm-weather destination.

Following business meetings in Curaçao last week, where ministers, commissioners and directors of tourism and their representatives met together as well as with tourism industry stakeholders, CTO chair Kenneth Bryan announced that 2023 will see the return of ‘Caribbean Week in New York’ in June, the State of the Industry Conference (SOTIC) in the Turks & Caicos Islands in the fall, and a conference focused on sustainable tourism development.

Curaçao, one of the Caribbean’s top performing tourism destinations, is playing host to leading tourism decision makers.

Ruisandro Cijntje, Curaçao’s Minister of Economic Development, welcomed directors, ministers and commissioners of tourism to the multilingual island as delegates prepared to attend the Caribbean Tourism Organisation’s (CTO) first business meetings of the year.

My father, Basil, often implores that the Caribbean must continually remind the world that the archipelago is a diverse multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-culinary, multi-genre (musical), multi-lingual and multi-talented group of destinations.

Nestled between North and South America, with Central America to the west and bordered by the mighty Atlantic Ocean to the east, it’s no wonder the region has been influenced by diverse cultures and histories. Take Curaçao, for example.

Hong Kong is ready to welcome visitors from all around the world once again with open arms and open doors.

With the launch of the global promotional campaign “Hello Hong Kong”, Hong Kong is sending its greatest welcome to the world with 500,000 air tickets as well as city-wide offers covering “Hong Kong Goodies” visitor consumption vouchers, to entice travellers to come to experience Hong Kong’s diverse appeals.

Kenneth Bryan, Chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), saluted the efforts of Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, to help start the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC) and turn the world’s attention to recognizing the value of tourism as a global product.

The Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, through its Caribcation Brand and in partnership with the Guyana Tourism Authority, led a sales mission in Guyana from February 1st – 6th, in preparation for the introduction of new direct service between the two countries, on British Airways, beginning March 27, 2023. 
 
The mission tapped into the vastly expanding Guyanese market to promote Saint Lucia's tourism to attract more visitors. Led by Lorine Charles-St. Jules, CEO of the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, the delegation included the Marketing Manager for the Caribbean Region, Events and Sports- Christopher Gustave, and the CEO and Business Development Manager of the Saint Lucia Hospitality & Tourism Association, Noorani Azeez and Juliet Sutherland, respectively. 

Zanzibar tourism stakeholders are all set for the first tourism investment summit to take place on the island later this month, targeting to connect tourism investors from East Africa, Africa, and other tourist market sources in the world. Branded as “The Z Summit,” this international tourism summit is scheduled to take place from February 23 to 24 at Zanzibar’s Airport Golden Tulip Convocation Centre.

The Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority (ABTA) has appointed Charmaine Browne-Spencer as Director of Tourism for the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region.

Spencer will be responsible for growing market share and destination arrivals from these regions, by focusing on strengthening strategic partnerships with regional stakeholders, building airlift capacity into the destination, and continuing to improve the destination’s public relations and brand awareness.

Frontier Airlines, which describes itself as an “ultra-low fare carrier”, is doubling down on service expansions to Puerto Rico, announcing new nonstop routes from seven U.S. cities and Cancun, beginning in May. Along with expanded service to San Juan and Aguadilla, Frontier will begin offering flights to Ponce, Puerto Rico for the first time, and will serve more routes to Puerto Rico than any other airline flying the Caribbean skies.

Birmingham Airport (BHX) has celebrated its 10 millionth customer of this financial year. To mark the moment, Turkish Airlines joined colleagues from BHX to present two free business class tickets to any destination on Turkish network to our 10 millionth customers - a couple called Tony and Jen.   

The Grenada Tourism Authority (GTA) is proud to unveil a new Grenada sign that represents the unique selling points of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique at the Melville Street Cruise Ship Terminal. The striking new sign, located at the entrance of the Welcome Centre, welcomes visitors to Grenada with a bold and colourful display of the island's name in large letters.

The Turks and Caicos Islands recently participated in the successful New York Travel & Adventure Show held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Centre in Manhattan, New York.

The event was New York's largest travel gathering since 2019, providing the perfect platform to showcase the Turks and Caicos Islands and its unique luxury offerings as a multi-island destination.

Antigua and Barbuda have welcomed Arvia, the largest cruise vessel to ever visit the destination.

The new vessel, owned by P&O Cruises, has a 5,200 passenger and 1,800 crew member capacity. The grand ship made its inaugural call at the Fifth Berth where it also conducted homeporting operations.

The Cayman Islands welcomed 1,027,668 visitors in 2022 with 743,394 cruise passengers and 284,274 stayover visitors. The figures for both cruise and stayover visitation exceeded goals set by the Cayman Islands Government.

For 2022, the Department of Tourism set a goal of 200,000 stayover visitors, to achieve the Ministry of Tourism’s goal of 40% of 2019 tourism tax revenue, and a stretch goal of 256,000 visitors.

As part of efforts to capitalise on tourism offerings between Jamaica and Sierral Leone, both countries are set to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The move is aimed at strengthening tourism cooperation between Jamaica and the historic African nation.

“With the strong historical and cultural association between Jamaica and Sierra Leone, it is strategic to collaborate and strengthen our tourism corporation. Both countries have a lot to offer in tourism and we can capitalize on this to build out new experiences for our visitors,” said Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett.

Grenada’s tourism officials have unveiled a new sign that not only showcases the unique selling points of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique but also allows visitors to create and share memories of their visit to the Eastern Caribbean tri-island nation.

On display at the Melville Street Cruise Ship Terminal in the capital of St. George’s, the new sign is a powerful symbol and a representation of Grenada’s unique selling points that will no doubt inspire more visitors to explore the “Spice Island” of the Caribbean.