WHATS GOING ON: News from around the Caribbean

The CHTA named Leo Garbutt shown with CHTA president Patricia Affonso-Dass and CEO Frank Comito, owner of Grenada’s Calabash Luxury Boutique Hotel as its 2020 hotelier of the year for “exceptional contributions to Grenada and the Caribbean hotel and tourism industry over the past 30 years.”

The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) recently held its annual Caribbean Travel Marketplace and trade show at the Baha Mar resort in Nassau, Bahamas. The gathering brought together hotel and destination representatives, wholesalers and tour operators, online travel agencies, MICE planners, and others, resulting in a wealth of information being disseminated on the regions. We’ve covered much of it in Travel Industry Today in the past few week, here’s a round up of the rest:

Anguilla tourism minister Cardigan Connor and Chantelle Richardson.

ANGUILLA

The Anguilla Tourist Board (ATB) has embarked on a series of marketing initiatives based on its tourism pillars – romance, adventure, cruise, events, cuisine and health & wellness – to keep the momentum going and build on 2019, which set an arrivals records over 95,000 visitors – a 20 percent increase on 2016 arrivals, formerly its best performing year to date. Included will be a reprisal of the successful Extraordinary Eats month launched last April and spa and wellness month in June.

Tourism minister Cardigan Connor noted that renovations from Hurricane Irma in 2017 has led to “new and improved” product in the accommodation sector, including Cap Juluca, Cuisinart and Frangipani resorts, while Tranquility is introducing new luxury condos. Air Transat, Sunwing and WestJet serve the island from Canada.

 

Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority CEO Colin C. James and Minister of Tourism Charles Fernandez

ANTIGUA & BARBUDA

Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority CEO Colin C. James reported that 2019 was the destination’s best year ever for stayover arrivals with 15 percent growth over the previous year to more than 300,000 visitors (arriving by air).

“Our trade partners are reporting strong forward bookings, strong demand for the destination, and more importantly that revenues are moving in the positive direction,” he said. From Canada, Air Canada Vacations reported 21 percent gains to the islands and group business up 36 percent.

Notable developments on the horizon for the destination known as “the yachting capital of the Caribbean” include a “total transformation” of the waterfront in St. John’s, including the addition of a fifth cruise terminal berth, along with 15 new hotels including the first Hilton Waldorf Astoria, a Rosewood and a Marriott Autograph Collection hotel.

New events on the 2020 Calendar for the summer include Antigua and Barbuda Restaurant Week taking place from May 11-24, a Lionfish Derby to be held from June 11-14 and Kite Surf Week occurring June 24-30.


BAHAMAS

With the exception of Abaco, which has “a long way to go,” Bahamian tourism officials declared the islands back on track after Hurricane Dorian last September, not least with the release of new numbers showing record arrivals of 7 million-plus in 2019. The ministry of tourism embarked on an aggressive global campaign to dispel misinformation that the islands collectively were “obliterated,” reporting instead that only two of 16 islands groups (including Grand Bahama) were affected. The ministry amended its popular 2019 “Fly Away” marketing campaign featuring rock star Lenny Kravitz to “Still Rockin’ – Calm After the Storm.”

Meanwhile, Nassau is embarking on a “massive transformation” of its downtown, which will be anchored by the opening of a new Margaritaville hotel, marina and waterpark at one end with a $250-million remake of the Prince George cruise part at the other, opening this June and in 2022 respectively.

CAYMAN

Following a theme in much of the Caribbean, the Cayman Islands rode a wave of steady growth in airlift and accommodations in 2019 to post its highest number of stayover visits in recorded history (502,739) and a 10th consecutive years of annual growth. Canada remained a top source market with 3,500 more visitors than the year previous – a number that is sure to grow in 2020 with February’s launch of new direct Sunwing flights and increased capacity from Air Canada and WestJet.

CURACAO

Curiously for Curacao, North Americans lag behind Europe as the top source market for visitors, and its something tourism board CEO Paul Pennicook would like to change. “We are a hidden gem, and we’d really like to see Americans and Canadians discover it,” he says, adding that although that market grew two percent in 2019 it “could still be better.”

Centred between Aruba and Bonair in the Dutch Caribbean, lying just 65 km off the coast of Venezuela, Curacao has “cuisine, history, heritage, great diving and beaches – it’s a wonderful mix,” says Pennicook. “And that’s what we’re selling to North Americans.”

More than 22,000 Canadians stayed over in Curacao in 2019, and many more would have been among the island’s nearly 900,000 cruises arrivals, but numbers were suppressed by lack of direct air service to island.

DOMINICA

Dates have been set for Dominica’s World Creole Music Festival. Dubbed “the region’s greatest indigenous music festival,” the colourful event will take place Oct. 23-25 at its usual venue in the capital, the Windsor Park Sports Stadium. It should be noted that the 22nd edition of the festival will be held one week earlier to accommodate preparations for celebrating the country’s 42nd anniversary of Independence on Nov. 3. Creole Week will kick on the weekend prior to Creole Day and celebrations will continue the week after, leading into Independence celebrations.

As a result of the growing popularity of the festival and the demand for flights, accommodation and tickets for the festival period, visitors are especially encouraged to make early reservation for flights into the destination and for hotel rooms. Visit the website HERE.

www.dominicafestivals.com

GRENADA

Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique welcomed more than half a million visitors in 2019, beating its record 2018 numbers by 25,000 – largely due to a 15 percent rise in cruise arrivals. This year the addition of The Royalton Grenada hotel has added 269 rooms to the accommodation portfolio, with the 100 of an eventual 220 rooms from the Kimpton Kawana Bay hotel on Grand Anse Beach coming by December. A Six Senses Hotel, the first in the Caribbean, will open in 2022.

JAMAICA

Shovels will soon hit the ground on three “mega projects” set to dramatically increase the number of rooms in Jamaica. This spring ground will be broken on the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino (1,900 rooms), Karisma Hotels (the first 900 of 4,000 rooms), and Princess Hotel (2,000 rooms). They join Montego Bay’s new Oceans at Coral Springs by H10 Hotels (513 rooms when fully completed in May), and a close to 60 new luxury rooms at Half Moon. New hotels coming to Kingston include the Rock Hotel (by Hilton) and a refurbishment and rebranding of the former Hilton by the Courtleigh Hotel Group.

MONTSERRAT

For the first time since the eruption of the Soufriere Hills Volcano in 1995, the number of visitors to Montserrat has surpassed 20,000 in 2019. A 59 percent increase in cruise visits was largely responsible for the increase. Some of the new planned marketing activities in which the Tourism Division will be engaging in 2020 include: The launch of a new website to enhance its digital marketing capabilities, a more aggressive approach to going after the group and excursion markets in Antigua, and a number of trade and consumer initiatives in the US, UK and Canada.

SAINT LUCIA

New hotels, a racecourse, golf links and cruise port on the south coast are among developments in the pipeline that promise to change the face of Saint Lucia in the coming years. A new accommodation tax for visitors (from US$3-6/night depending on the level of hotel) coming into effect on April 1 will help fund the projects, which will also include infrastructure improvements (airport, roads, water supply) that will help spread tourism to new locations throughout the island and away from the busy north coast.

May-Ling Chun, Director of the St. Maarten’s Tourism Bureau; Valérie Damaseau; and Aïda Weinum, Director of St. Martin’s Tourist Office.

ST. MARTIN/ST. MAARTEN

On the comeback trail after Hurricane Irma, which damaged 90 percent of the buildings on the half-French, half Dutch island (completing destroying a third), Saint Martin was a prime sponsor of CHTA with Valérie Damaseau, 1st Vice President of French St. Martin Territorial Council and President of St. Martin’s Tourist Office, delivering a keynote address declaring that the island is “once again open for business” and expecting a very promising winter season.

Highlighting happenings on the island, whose slogan is “Two Countries, One Heart,” are the opening of AMResorts’ 350-room Secrets property this month (March) on the French side (site of former Riu Palace at Anse Marcel) and continuing re-development of Princess Julianna International, which is expected to be complete in 2022, and a facility that is served by Air Canada, Air Transat, Sunwing and WestJet.

Meanwhile, 10 cruise lines are expected to continue to bring 2 million passengers to islands.

Four new hotels, including The Morgan, are on track to open this year, while a Planet Hollywood and two Diamond Resorts are among four more coming in 2021.

SMART, Sint Maarten and Saint-Martin’s regional trade show will take place May 19-21.

TURKS & CAICOS

Tourism news in the Turks & Caicos is a tale of two hotels. The first is Beaches, which notably withdrew news last year that it would be closing – it is not. And the other is Ritz-Carlton, which is currently under construction and slated to open in mid-2021. Also on the horizon is a new Andaz (2021), the Grace Bay Rock Bay House (2022) and much-needed airport expansion (currently out for tender).

UNITED STATES VIRGIN ISLANDS (USVI)

Having largely recovered from the effects of two hurricanes in 2017, USVI tourism personnel are looking towards Festivals and St. Croix as the focus of promotional efforts in the coming year. The former is seen as a way to put the destination “on the map,” thanks to the multitude of diverse options, not the least annual Carnival festivities on each island, while St. Croix is an under-appreciated “hidden gem” that deserves wider attention.

Other developments include a refurbishment of Main Street in Charlotte Amalie, and the completion of a waterfront project designed to ease congestion around the cruise port.

Notable new hotel openings on the horizon include Frenchman’s Reef Marriott Resort & Spa, and Marriott’s Autograph Collection, Noni Beach, a St. Thomas Resort, along with Renaissance Carambola and Divi Carina Bay on St. Croix.