Caribbean Tourism Remains Strong as 2020 Starts on Positive Note

Hotel growth in 2019 continued to stimulate regional economies, and it bodes well for a strong 2020, according to reports given at recent Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) meetings.

CHTA introduced a new companion event called Caribbean Tourism Pulse, held around the organization's annual Caribbean Travel Marketplace at Baha Mar in the Bahamas last month. Joining in the “Pulse” session to provide insights on the industry's performance and outlook were leaders from Tourism Economics, the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), ADARA, Mastercard, STR, ForwardKeys and the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre.

The consensus was that the Caribbean on the whole continued its decade-long growth pattern, showing increases in stopover visitor arrivals, airlift and key hotel performance indicators.  

Adam Sacks, founder and president of Tourism Economics, was optimistic about the industry's long-term outlook with projections of 27 million additional households coming on stream with an annual household income above $100,000 by 2029 in 14 top source markets. This represents an equivalent of a 34 percent increase in this market.

Visitor arrivals to the Caribbean continued to outpace growth in most areas of the world, according to St. Lucia Tourism Minister Dominic Fedee, who serves as chairman of the CTO. While still awaiting reports from all of the region's destinations, data through September 2019 showed Caribbean tourism arrivals grew by 6.1 percent, outpacing the global average of 4 percent. He indicated that CTO anticipated 2019 would end with a 5 to 6 percent growth in arrivals.

Amanda Hite, president of STR, which provides hotel performance data, reported that the Caribbean had achieved a record year in 2019 in the key indicators for revenue per available room (RevPAR) and average daily rate (ADR). She indicated that 2019 saw the most supply ever and highest full-year supply growth. Supply growth started to accelerate in 2014 after a period of flat/declining growth but the hurricanes in September 2017 put an end to that. 2018 full-year supply growth was zero percent; the region's room supply increased by 2.8 percent in 2019.

Jamaica Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett, who also is co-chair of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre, reported on the capacity of tourism to rebound quickly after experiencing a crisis situation and addressed some of the factors that help some destinations to rebound faster than others. He emphasized the importance of the industry having strong readiness, response and public relations and communications plans in place.  

His comments were reinforced by data provided by Mastercard senior executive John Muñoz, who showed how proactive measures can help to quickly restore consumer spending patterns. Olivier Ponti, VP – insights for ForwardKeys, which analyzes airline performance data, showed how quickly the Bahamas has been able to rebound following Hurricane Dorian

CHTA also released the results of its annual Caribbean Tourism Performance and Outlook survey. According to CHTA CEO and director general Frank Comito, hoteliers were bullish on 2019, with 49 percent describing it as extremely strong or strong. More than 40 percent characterized it as a year of moderate growth, and only 10 percent considered the year to be weak. Looking ahead to 2020, 48 percent of Caribbean hoteliers are positive about the year, with 20 percent indicating they are extremely positive. Thirty-five percent expressed a fair outlook, and 15 percent held a negative outlook. 

Related Stories

Fedee: CTO to Emerge From Downsizing Stronger Than Before

U.S. Virgin Islands Turns its Attention to St. Croix

The Bahamas Are "Still Rockin'" After Hurricane Dorian

Discover Puerto Rico Assures Travelers Island Is Open