BARBADOS — The news coming out of the 2023 CHTA Caribbean Travel Forum was generally rosy as the Caribbean has been the fastest recovering region in the world – and that’s after some predicted it wouldn’t recover.

In fact the Caribbean is close to seeing full recovery, as it’s only down 1% from 2019 levels. An upward trend in occupancy has dovetailed with a high demand for upper-end luxury travel.

Tourism executives and government dignitaries at the 2023 CHTA Caribbean Travel Forum in Barbados

Rihanna’s childhood home in Barbados

Codrington College, Barbados

Travelweek got all the latest news and updates at the 2023 CHTA Caribbean Travel Forum, held last week in Barbados.

A key issue to recovery that was repeatedly touched upon was air connectivity, which is not yet back at 2019 levels and currently showing deterioration once again.

The differential in demand versus supply is creating a spike in airfare prices. There’s a strong push from the CHTA, and other organizations and tourism boards, for more direct flights to Caribbean vacation spots as many destinations struggle with direct connectivity.

Another important issue that arose was the need for more capability to “island hop.” Many people are not visiting multiple destinations, especially compared to other regions, underlining the need for a joint strategy between Caribbean nations. One low-cost idea floated at the forum was an ‘all-you-can-fly’ pass between islands.

The Caribbean is in growth mode, although growth is uneven across the different destinations. It’s heavily dependent on tourism, more so than any other region in the world. The Caribbean has a population of 19 million people and 2019 saw 31 million visitors to the islands. Average costs for Caribbean travel have been getting higher due to inflationary pressures, but this can also be said for the rest of the world, and people have been willing to pay more for Caribbean travel because of the region’s high value proposition. There’s also been a strong bounce-back of events and, since 42% of tourist expenditure is on food, also a strong effort to build out more food experiences.

The Caribbean is also at the forefront of trying to solve the climate crisis with, for example, the Bridgetown initiative. It’s a planet-wide plan for addressing the crisis by establishing a global climate mitigation trust that lends directly to projects instead of to governments. The Caribbean sees itself as being on the front line of the effects of the crisis, explaining its concern and desire to create policy.

The CHTA (Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association) Destination Resilience Award in Category A was given to Jamaica, with Bonaire, St. Lucia and St. Maarten as runners up. In Category B, it was awarded to Eleuthera, Bahamas.

The CHTA’s Icon of Hospitality Award was honoured posthumously upon Sandals Resorts founder Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart, who passed away in 2021, and George Myers, who passed away earlier this year, and also to Sir Royston Hopkin, who passed away in 2020.

The first-ever CHTA President’s Award for Caribbean Tourism Excellence was given to Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett.

For more details for the 2023 Caribbean Travel Forum, visit CaribbeanHotelandTourism.com.

Watch for more coverage from the 2023 CHTA Caribbean Travel Forum in upcoming editions of Travelweek Daily

2023 CHTA Caribbean Travel Forum

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