Tourism recovery continues across Caribbean

Grenada and Antigua and Barbuda are the two Eastern Caribbean islands leading the way in the region’s tourism recovery, as the move away from the pitfalls of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to pick up steam.

President of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) Nicola Madden-Greig made this disclosure earlier today, during the first-quarter review and 2023 outlook Zoom meeting with members.

Nicola Madden-Greig. (GP)

The president revealed that Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda and Curacao led the way, being considered the three most resilient destinations, mainly through increased arrivals out of the United States market.

She also confirmed that the Caribbean region as a whole, was proving to be the fastest recovering sector worldwide, ahead of the Asian, US and European markets.

“That’s very good news for the Caribbean, the fact that we’re moving into a period of growth,” the president said.

There was also good news for projections for the rest of 2023, as Madden-Greig said early bookings showed the spring and summer periods would be well facilitated by new arrivals through a 48 per cent increase between June and August.

According to the CHTA leader, seat capacity across the Caribbean was the closest it has been to 2019 levels before the pandemic.

She noted the CHTA was happy Latin America was proving to be a major player in Caribbean tourism now, with increased arrivals from Argentina and Colombia, and Panama making significant strides as a hub through which visitors could move from South America and Central America to Caribbean islands.

Madden-Greig said there were still plenty challenges facing Caribbean tourism still, however, inclusive of a shortage of labour, and visitors’ continued concern about high taxes, travel costs and the level of crime on some destinations. (BA)