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Caribbean Tourism Report Q4 2011
Business Monitor International, Oct 2011, Pages: 36
Growth Continues In 2011
Data released by the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) showed that the Caribbean continued to experience improving growth in the first six months of 2011. While growth rates varied across the region, some rates were particularly strong and suggest the islands are continuing to experience a strong recovery. This is encouraging, as the region was slow to recover following the downturn in 2008-2009, but growth rates are now returning to previous levels.
Only four countries in the region continued to experience year-on-year (y-o-y) declines in growth, Dominica (-1.4%), the Bahamas (-3.5%), St Maarten (-2.9%) and the US Virgin Islands (-5.6%), which was an improvement on growth levels in 2010. By contrast, high growth rates were achieved in Curaçao (15.8%), Anguilla (11.8%), Cuba (10.6%) and the Cayman Islands (8.0%).
However, the deteriorating economic environment in the US and Europe could mean this recovery is brief. If the situation in these major source markets worsens, the Caribbean will be one of the first regions to be affected, given its relative expensiveness and reliance on tourists from North America and Europe.
Focus On Cuba
One of the major tourist destinations in the Caribbean, Cuba’s appeal ranges from beautiful beaches to inland rainforests, plus the cultural and social highlights of Havana and the town of Trinidad. Cuba’s tourist industry has managed to weather the downturn relatively well, despite the economic damage affecting the other key industries. I
n the long term, the island’s tourism industry may benefit from the severe economic downturn in 2008-2009, since this encouraged the government to introduce greater liberalisation of the sector. In the meantime, Cuba continues to post strong levels of arrivals growth, with tourist arrivals growing by 10.6% y-o-y in the first six months of 2011, which bodes well for a positive performance in the second half.
LIAT Strike Disrupts Flight Schedules
Leading regional airline LIAT experienced industrial unrest in mid-2011, when workers in Grenada (one of the airline’s main hubs) went on strike in June. The action was related to a pay dispute dating back to 2009, with workers and pilots calling in sick en masse. After several more strikes, the employees returned to work in August after agreeing a new pay deal with management.
The strike in Grenada followed one the previous month in Antigua and a walkout was threatened in Barbados in August. The pan-regional airline, which is owned by 10 countries, has experienced more disputes as a result of some restructuring across. The carrier has been plagued by inefficiency, with only the lack of major competition in the region keeping revenue at a relatively steady level. As a result, the company is working to streamline operations and become more cost-efficient.
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