CTO Chairman: Caribbean tourism rebounding

It was good news for members of the Caribbean Tourism Organization when the CTO Chairman revealed the industry is finally looking up.

It was good news for members of the Caribbean Tourism Organization when the CTO Chairman revealed the industry is finally looking up.

“The state of the Caribbean’s tourism industry is solid, with positive signs that a recovery is in progress,” said Beverly Nicholson-Doty.

The CTO Chairman led a press conference from Government House, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas USVI on February 10 where she delivered the State of the Industry Report for 2013.

Nicholson-Doty said there were strong indications of recovery in the industry, chiefly, that visitors were spending more money.

“One of the strongest indicators of progress is the rise in estimated visitor spend, with expenditure growing faster than visitor arrivals for the first time in three years,” she said.

According to the Chairman, visitors to the region spent more than 28 billion dollars in 2013, an increase of 2.3 per cent when compared to 2012.

“The hotel sector performed even better, recording a rise of more than 7.5 per cent in room revenues…average room rates were up nearly US $10 to $186, the average revenue per available room also grew by about $10 to $125 and occupancy levels were at 67 per cent.”

These figures are directly in line with pre-crisis levels, she said, in addition to the fact there was not a single month during 2013 that any of these indicators fell below 2012 levels.

Not only did visitor spending increase last year, so too did overall visitor arrivals to the Caribbean.

Despite the high cost of regional travel, the Caribbean managed to attract a “record number” of visitors from South America. Nicholson-Doty categorized the rapid increase in tourist arrivals from that region as progress.

“We see progress in the record number of overall arrivals in 2013,” she said.

During her SOI address last February, the CTO Chairman had been optimistic about the prospects for the industry in 2013.

She said then that all the signs suggested Caribbean tourism was rallying, regaining some of the ground lost at the height of the global economic depression in 2008/2009.

24.6 million tourists visited the Caribbean in 2012, 5.4 % more than in 2011 and the largest number of stay-over visitors in five years.

In 2013 the Caribbean welcomed more than 25 million stay-over visitors.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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