Tourism outlook ‘optimistic despite tax bugbear’

• Although high taxes on Caribbean air travel remain a concern, the region’s tourism watchdog is cautiously optimistic that the industry is set to continue to deliver solid results into 2019.

 

• Delivering a review of the Caribbean tourism industry, Acting Director of Research and IT at Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) said with a strong performance during the last four months of 2018, including a robust showing by countries impacted by the 2017 hurricanes, “the evidence suggests that Caribbean tourism is on the upswing”.

 

• Despite registering a 6.3% decline, to reach 13.9Mn American tourists last year, the US remains the region’s largest source market for tourists. But it was Canada that outperformed all other markets last year with 5.7% growth or 3.9Mn visits, mainly due to seat capacity to the region.

 

• The CTO is projecting that tourist arrivals will increase by between six and 7% in 2019, as the damaged infrastructure in the hurricane-impacted destinations returns to capacity. Cruise arrivals are also projected to expand by a further 4 to 5%.

 

(Source: Barbados Today)