By Michael Baginski/ Many Caribbean nations are looking further north than usual for visitors as economic turmoil threatens the United States and wary (and aggrieved) Canadians look for alternative destinations to the U.S. for their summer holidays.
Indeed, Canada – already the well-established No. 2 or 3 source market for most of the islands in the Caribbean (and sending well over 3.3 million visitors to the region annually, according to the Caribbean Tourism Organization) was top of mind at last week’s 43rd annual Caribbean Travel Marketplace in Antigua, with one Canadian delegate telling Travel Industry Today, “This was a good year to come to the show. All of the destinations are looking to Canada and have marketing dollars to spend.”
In equal measure to the changing travel intent of Canadians, Caribbean tourism executives worried about research indicating Americans staying closer to home due to concerns about the economy, as well as fears about how they will be welcomed abroad do to the new administration’s “combative” foreign policy.
Zeek Coleman, VP at market research firm Tourism Economics, which presented at the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) hosted event, noted that global travel to the U.S. is plummeting, with many travellers – particularly Canadians – shifting their travel intentions to alternative destinations, thereby creating an opportunity for the Caribbean to attract new visitors.
Canadian travel to the U.S. alone dropped 32% by land and 13% by air in March, he noted, adding that forward bookings are trending down, at least through September.
“Tariffs are intrinsically bad for travel,” Coleman explained. “If I tell you you’re coming to my house and you’re going to buy the same thing you’ve been buying for 10 years, but you’ve got to pay more – 30% more – for no reason, that is combative. That does not make you feel like you’re welcome. So, the combativeness, the ‘51st state,’ not to mention the fears of deportations – the effects are evident.”
Not surprisingly then, Olivier Ponti, Director of Intelligence and Marketing at ForwardKeys pointed to an “impressive” 22% increase in travel intent by Canadians this summer (July-Sept.); he noted, however, that Toronto and Montreal are underserved gateways by airlines compared to the markets’ statistical interest.
CHTA president Sanovnik Destang similarly told Travel Industry Today: “Clearly this summer, there’s a tremendous increase in interest based on travel searches and travel intent for Canadians coming to the Caribbean… but there aren’t enough flights. I know Toronto is in that mix and it’s really to get that right mix between airlift and interest… and get that info to the airlines and get the planes reconfigured and re-routed to the Caribbean.”
He added, “You’re seeing a lot of destinations re-shifting their focus to other markets (from the U.S.) and Canada is one of them. So many destinations have done activations in Canada.”
Destang also expects that there will be specific hotel offers from the region in the market this summer to reflect the low Canadian dollar, stating, “Canada is very important to us.”
CHTA executives Karin Witt, Vanessa Ledesma, and Sanovnik DestangEven as the CHTA president was urging Canadian airlines to amp up their service to keep up with demand, Air Canada announced new flights into both Jamaica in the Bahamas, and Sunwing extended some seasonality for the latter.
Tourist boards are also ramping up activity. The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, for example, is planning an extensive visit to Toronto in June, while the Turks and Caicos islands engaged an in-market rep firm (VoX International) this spring in Toronto; and even tiny Anguilla is reporting “record-breaking” (+32%) Canadian visitations while boasting its own Canadian PR firm (Jesson + Company).
Dominica is another island casting it’s gaze towards the Great White North and is dedicating more strategy and resources towards the Canadian market.
“We are very aware (of what’s going on in the U.S.),” Discover Dominica Authority CEO Marva Williams commented to TIT, adding, “We pay attention to the data and immediately when we saw the very heavy shift from the North American market (decreasing Americans, increasing Canadians), we immediately decided we would like a share of the bread.”
At Saint Lucia, the island’s Tourism Authority recently completed a Canadian mission that included a halftime “takeover” at a Toronto Raptors game.
“The Canadian market is one that presents tremendous potential for us,” said the SLTA’s CEO Louis Lewis. “Earlier this year took a deep dive into the Canadian market. We reached out to all the tour operators and travel agencies and the individual airlines, and we were doing programs with them. Sometimes there is opportunity in crisis, and we are actively pursuing the Canadian market.”
Lewis noted that after its Raptors activation, Saint Lucia Internet searches from Canada surged to 5th globally, adding, “We want to build on that. The Canadian market is very important for us and presents prospects. It is our 4th largest market and we intend to grow it because there is an opportunity.
“And the reason is not surprising: There is bit of contention cross the border. We know that Canadians are looking for options (for travel). And we have a very nice, warm place that they can come!”
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