Travel agents can soon look forward to a travel specialist program encompassing the entire Caribbean region. The Caribbean Hotel Association is working on preliminary plans for the program, which is expected to be launched in 2023.

The CHTA announced the news at its annual Caribbean Travel Marketplace (CTM) conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico last week.

CHTA President Nicola Madden-Greig says the online certification program will be similar to what individual destinations do, and will be a partnership between the hotel association and individual Caribbean destinations.

Madden-Greig noted that travel agents are more important than ever, observing, “We all know that through the pandemic, the growth and use of travel advisors has significantly increased.”

Citing statistics from ASTA (American Society of Travel Advisors), Madden-Greig said 27% of travellers often or always used a travel advisor before the pandemic, but post-pandemic, nearly half (44%) say the are more likely to use a travel advisor. And 94% of travellers who used an advisor before the pandemic are likely to use one again after.

Stats also say that the more people travel the more they are likely to use a travel agent.

But while many agents may be experts on a particular hotel (chain) or destination, Madden-Greig says, “we don’t have something called a Caribbean travel advisor expert.”

As such, she says, CHTA is creating a program that will address a clear “knowledge gap” in the industry pertaining to a region that includes 700 islands across 23 destinations.

“We want to ensure that travel advisors across the world really understand the full gamut of what is available in the Caribbean, and that there is this absolutely fantastic diversity. And that you can become a travel expert so that you sell this really fantastic region and not just one island, but the 20-odd destinations that we have,” added Madden-Greig.

In terms of how it will work, Madden-Greig told Travel Industry Today, “As we as a region are collaborating in terms of ‘One Caribbean’ it’s not going to be a CHTA program – it’s going to be a full program that incorporates the destinations as well as the hotel association,” she explained. “So as a partner, we’re expecting them to not only push their specific program (but) say, ‘and, please sign on to be a Caribbean travel expert as well…’ That’s how we intend to push it out there.”

Caribbean Travel Marketplace chairman Karen Whitt also noted that the annual event, to this point focussed largely on buyers and the media, will also embody the CHTA’s “renewed focus on the travel advisor community” with agents set to become a “major component of Marketplace in years to come.”