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STATS BY THE END OF 2017 BORE OUT THE CAPACITY OF THIS NATURE-BLESSED REGION TO BOUNCE BACK AND WRAP UP THE YEAR WITH A RECORD-BREAKING NUMBER OF BOTH VISITORS AND REVENUES. IT’S NO DOUBT A LEGIT ENCOURAGEMENT THAT HAS BLOWN NEW AIRS OF OPTIMISM INTO THIS YEAR’S TRAVEL CAMPAIGN

Optimism and joy the Caribbean people are marked by, coupled with their natural talent to do more with less in times of hardships, helped them overcome the catastrophic damages left by the past hurricane season and lunge into the 2018 travel campaign with promising estimates looming in the horizon. In fact, they hope this year the amount of tourist arrivals could soar somewhere between 2 and 3 percent.
By the end of last year, the final tally bore out the capacity of this nature-blessed world region to overcome –with the sole exception of those islands that were pounded the hardest by the hurricanes- and wrap up the year with record-breaking numbers of both visitors and revenues.
Solidarity and cooperation were put through their paces, together with the industriousness and individual endeavor of each and every destination, to make investors stay put and the interest of tourists grow, moved by the confidence of tour operators, airlines and cruise line that turned to new outbound markets while clinging to the region’s traditional niches.
FIGURES THAT BEAR WATCHING
Tourists who visited the Caribbean in 2017 spent an average $1,230 per stay, which accounted for a grand total of $34.2 billion worth of revenues.
The total spending of the more than 30 million foreign visitors ramped up 2.6 percent to peak $37 billion in 2017, according to a report issued by the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO).
In the same breath, Caribbean tourism posted growth for its eighth year in a row (1.7 percent), amid two devastating hurricanes in September, said CTO Research Manager Ryan Skeete.
St. Lucia (11 percent), Belize (10,8 percent) and Bermuda (11 percent) posted double-digit growth in foreign arrivals during the year, while Cancun and Cozumel in México, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Surinam logged nearly half of all those foreign arrivals combined, up 6 percent from the previous year.
As far as outbound markets and their expansion are concerned, Europe led the pack with 6.2 percent, followed by Canada that ended with 4.3 percent. The U.S., the region’s top outbound market, ratcheted up 0.5 percent to reach 14.9 million sunbathers.
This is indeed a dynamic sector that “employs one out of every four people and chips in over 80 percent of the regional GDP,” said Hugh Riley. That’s why the CTO Secretary General has stressed on the need to reach a higher professional level among those who work in the travel industry, a sector that should not be viewed as “a random activity”.
“Tourism is a business that delivers hard currency every time an airliner lands and a cruise ship docks. We must be very concerned when we’re not pushing this job-creating machine to the top of its potentials, and there are parts of the Caribbean that can work efficiently.”
CRUISES MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Despite the hurricanes, the arrival of cruise passengers also set new record highs in 2017, with 27 million visits (up 2.4 percent from 2016).
The Bank of Mexico recognized, for instance, that 7.9 million cruise passengers landed in any of the Aztec nation’s seaports, a figure that accounted for a staggering 18.2 percent uptick from the previous year. Those cruise passengers forked over $59.9 each.
It’s important to point out that in the fourth quarter of 2017, the number of plane seats to the Caribbean slumped 7.2 percent, according to OAG, an organization that relies on aviation data from around the world and provides information by means of accurate, timely and practical digital applications. However, the total capacity climbed 1.7 percent by the end of the year due to a solid performance in the first half of 2017.
A smart insider like Alex Zozaya, CEO of Apple Leisure Group (ALG), has made some interesting forecasts for the ongoing year. Given the fact that cruise ships are now larger, the number of passengers could hike 10 percent. The good news is backed up by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) in its report entitled “The State of Cruise Industry for 2018” in which the organization foresees steady growth in the number of cruise passengers in 2018 to as many as 27.2 million, people eager to sail out on a quest for new unforgettable travel experiences.