Holiday & Travel

Despite global pressures such as high inflation, the war in Ukraine, the ensuing energy crisis, and an impending economic recession, the outlook for Caribbean travel and tourism is favourable, according to the Barbados-based Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO).

Delivering the region’s 2022 “Tourism Performance and Outlook Report” in Bridgetown today, Neil Walters, Acting Secretary General of the CTO, confirmed that the Caribbean had one of the quickest recovery rates globally in 2022, with 28.3 million registered tourist visits in 2022.

Cayman Airways Limited (CAL) has announced that its growing route map of international destinations will include Panama, Central America, this summer when the airline relaunches nonstop flights between Grand Cayman and Tocumen International Airport (PTY), starting June 26, 2023.

The Tobago Tourism Agency Limited (TTAL) will be leading a delegation of public and private sector tourism stakeholders to attend the Internationale Tourismus- Börse (ITB) in Berlin, Germany from March 07 to 09, 2023, as they seek to reconnect with the European travel market and stimulate business opportunities for Tobago’s on-island tourism stakeholders.  

Qatar Airways has launched a new brand campaign in collaboration with world-renowned Indian actor, Deepika Padukone. The campaign launch is the culmination of the airline's endeavour to redefine Qatar Airways Premium experience, particularly through showcasing the world-class Qsuite along with the unparalleled surroundings of The Orchard, which are core to Hamad International Airport’s expansion.

The French Saint-Martin Tourist Office showcased the island as a premier culinary destination at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival (SOBEWFF), the Food Network’s 22^nd annual gastronomic event taking place from February 23^rd - February 26^th, 2023. The four-day festival is a star-studded event showcasing the talents of the world’s most renowned wine and spirits producers, chefs, and culinary personalities.

interCaribbean Airways have announced that all new nonstop services from St Kitts to Barbados. These flights will connect with services to Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent and Georgetown, Guyana.

Service from the Barbados Grantly Adams International Airport is scheduled to commence on Sunday, 12 March 2023. An Embraer-120 aircraft with a seating capacity of 30 seats will service St. Kitts from Barbados three times weekly on Sunday, Wednesday and Friday.

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) have announced the resignation of Liz Ortiguera as its Chief Executive Officer. Founded in 1951, the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is a not-for-profit membership-based association that catalyzes the responsible development of travel and tourism to, from, and within the Asia Pacific region.

Community support, environmental stewardship and national pride are the pillars of Lyton and Eroline Lamontagne’s decades-long careers. Both born in Soufrière, St. Lucia, the couple met in 1980 and made their foray into hospitality with a restaurant and boutique at the former Jalousie Plantation. 

In 1988, the Lamontagnes took a step further into the food industry with Eroline Foods, a frozen food outlet named after Mrs. Lamontagne.

The fifth annual TravMedia Summit Australia, sponsored by Visit Europe, brought together 300 Australian and New Zealand travel writers, editors, influencers, broadcast journalists and international and domestic travel and tourism brands for a fantastic day of networking, learning and development.

The Summit is part of TravMedia's International Media Marketplace (IMM), the leading media networking event for the travel industry, now in its 11th year.

Former president of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism and Association (CHTA) Patricia Affonso-Dass believes the 41st annual Caribbean Travel Marketplace, to be held in Barbados May 9-11, can be a defining moment for the travel trade body.

The Barbados-based hotelier, who runs Ocean Hotels Group on the island, said Caribbean Travel Marketplace has special significance this year because “it represents and showcases our region’s and association’s ability to transform, change and reinvent to meet the ever-changing needs, demands and realities of this dynamic industry.”

Positioning itself among the leading island destination in Africa, Zanzibar is aiming to attract almost one million visitors in next two years, banking on its rich heritage and historical sites, plus warm beaches and marine resources.

Zanzibar government is now upgrading tourism infrastructure including expansion of roads and improvement of Abeid Amani Karume International Airport (AAKIA) together with other projects.

A comprehensive year-long study that included interviews with more than 1,600 travellers to Puerto Rico indicates that visitors to the Spanish-speaking U.S. territory enjoyed their travel experience.

Discover Puerto Rico announced that a highlight of the study’s findings is that 98 percent of visitors were satisfied with their experience on the island, with 95 percent estimating they will return in the future.

A leading Caribbean tourism official wants to see Caribbean nationals derive more benefits from the tourism industry, leading to greater generational wealth for residents of the region.

Speaking at the first Global Tourism Resilience Conference, which was held in Kingston, Jamaica last week, Jamaican hotelier Nicola Madden-Greig said this goal can be achieved by focusing on building an entrepreneurial class and through the continued strengthening of small- and medium-sized tourism enterprises.

As Curaçao continues to shatter tourism records, one of the region’s leading tourism executives opines that the Curaçao Tourist Board (CTB) might be a model for others to follow, given its significant achievement in using data and analytics to overcome market challenges.

The Dutch Caribbean destination recently reported close to a half-million stayover visitors in 2022 and there’s no letting up, with January 2023 arrivals eclipsing the 2022 number by a whopping 35 percent.

The results of a new study, revealing the safest places in Europe to travel to, were released today. The study analysed 9 metrics that contribute towards how safe an area may be such as homicides, assaults, road fatalities, natural disaster risk, and global peace index, to find which European country is the safest.

According to the latest data from Trip.com Group (Ctrip), Chinese multinational online travel company that provides services including accommodation reservation, transportation ticketing, packaged tours and corporate travel management, bookings by Chinese tourists traveling to foreign destinations spiked by 640% during the Lunar New Year festival vs the same period last year, while foreign hotel bookings have quadrupled.