Impressive achievements for C’bean tourism, but Canadian market a concern
This has been an impressive, yet challenging year for Caribbean tourism, says Secretary General of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), Hugh Riley.
According to him, the region has seen a rise in tourist arrivals when compared to our record year in 2015, fuelled by strong performances in Europe – mainly the United Kingdom and Germany; and
from the United States.
However, he reported that amidst the year’s impressive achievements, the Canadian market was a concern.
Riley explained that traditionally a robust achiever, even during the tough global economic meltdown, Canada delivered declining numbers this year, sparked by the weakening of the Canadian dollar.
“We are moving to reverse that slide, combining our efforts with those of our CTO member-countries and our industry partners. In the first quarter of 2017, we will hire a business development representative to substantially enhance the Caribbean’s engagement in Canada’s most productive areas, identify and develop business in non-traditional areas and work closely with our members’ representatives for maximum impact.
“New travel agent training and certification, increased use of targeted social media, enhanced deployment of the CTO’s data analysis tools, and more focused engagement with the Caribbean Diaspora are all components of the 2017 strategy for Canada,” he disclosed.
The Secretary General also observed that the CTO’s hotel partners also faced their own challenges from major markets. While air arrival numbers were up, Riley said the key performance metrics for the hotel industry recorded declines through the first half of 2016, based on data compiled by Smith Travel Research Inc.
“The slumps were influenced by a rise in room stock and a fall in demand for traditional hotel rooms, attributed in part to ‘the sharing economy.’”
Riley went on to acknowledge that Mother Nature challenged the region as well, with some member-countries affected in varying degrees by hurricanes; as well as the onset of the Zika virus presented a challenge.
As it relates to Brexit, he assured the region that the CTO will continue to monitor the possible impact of the vote as the UK moves to end its membership in the EU.
“Developments in the United States too are occupying our focused attention, the US market being the primary supplier of visitors to the Caribbean,” he pointed out. (TL)
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