by Brian Major
Last updated: 12:55 AM ET, Thu January 30, 2020
Caribbean vacation destinations enjoyed sunny skies for much of 2019, with several nations attending last week's Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA)'s Marketplace conference reporting strong land-based traveler and cruise visitor growth coupled with higher rates at island resorts, despite increased inventories.
Caribbean resorts experienced a "record" year for rates in 2019, said travel research firm STR. The average daily rate (ADR) climbed 5.6 percent compared with 2018, even as inventory grew by 2.8 percent in 2019 to 259,538 rooms. In all, Caribbean nations added 4,451 new hotel rooms in 2019.
Yet while rates increased, Caribbean resort occupancy declined 2.7 percent in 2019. The influx of new rooms, combined with the Dominican Republic's 2019 bookings drop following struggles with safety and security and Puerto Rico's booking declines in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, combined to slow occupancy figures said Frank Comito, CHTA's CEO.
The occupancy decline highlighted the region's vulnerability to forces beyond its control, including severe weather. Nevertheless, Comito said tourism performance and hotel inventory in 2019 approached pre-2017 levels for the Caribbean destinations most impacted by the hurricanes of 2017.
Overall arrivals in destinations tracked by the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) increased 4.0 percent in the first four months of 2019, while air arrivals to the Caribbean increased 4.4 percent in 2019, according to research company Forward Keys.
Several Caribbean countries offered detailed information on their 2019 tourism performance and predictions for 2020:
Antigua and Barbuda
The dual-island nation continued its strong tourism growth in 2019, with visitor air arrivals up 8.59 percent in 2019 versus 2018. Antigua also has 15 properties "approved and in development" representing 2,000 rooms that will be available by the end of 2021, according to Antigua & Barbuda Tourism Authority (ATBA) officials.
The new rooms will more than doubling the territory's current inventory of around 3,500 rooms. Recently opened properties include Elite Island Resorts' luxury Hammock Cove resort, which features 39 one-bedroom villas with private plunge pools and premium facilities, amenities and services.
Also scheduled to debut by 2021 are Marriott Autograph Collection, Hilton Waldorf Astoria, Rosewood Half Moon Bay and Best Western properties.
Within the past year, American Airlines has added daily roundtrip flights to Antigua from Miami, while Air Canada added a fifth weekly flight from Toronto. Jet Blue has also added two additional flights to the territory for 2020, said Colin James, CEO of the Antigua & Barbuda Tourism Authority.
The dual-island destination is also growing on the cruise front, with a fifth berth capable of accommodating the largest ships scheduled to open at its St. John cruise facility during the 2020-2021 season. ABTA officials expect the destination to host 1.3 million guests annually by the end of 2022, placing it among the 10 most-visited Caribbean countries among cruise vacationers.
James said maintaining the country's small-scale charm will be a challenge as new inventory is added and arrivals continue to increase. "We have to be sure we maintain the charm that we have developed as a tourist destination," James said.
Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands posted an 8.6 percent increase in air arrivals in 2019, with the 502,739 visitors representing the highest number of overnight visits in the territory's history, surpassing 2018.
"My government and I challenged the Department of Tourism and our stakeholders to reach new markets and create growth opportunities for our tourism sector," said Moses Kirkconnell, the Cayman Islands' tourism minister. "The numbers speak for themselves."
Cayman officials said increased airlift buoyed the destination's arrivals in 2019 and will extend the growth into 2020. "My team and I invest significant effort to maintain and grow strong aviation partnerships to ensure airline capacity and flight frequency are maintained and increased," said Rosa Harris, director of the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism.
Delta Air Lines will add a new seasonal flight departing Saturdays between New York and Grand Cayman beginning June 13. National flag carrier Cayman Airways resumed flights from Denver in December of 2019 and will offer twice-weekly service to the Cayman Islands through August 2020.
Also, American Airlines announced additional seasonal service from Boston and new flights from New York in 2020, while Canadian supplier Sunwing announced the launch of service to the Cayman Islands from Toronto beginning in February 2020.
Curaçao
Curaçao generated 453,669 overnight arrivals in 2019, a seven percent increase over 2018, which Paul Pennicook, managing director and CEO of the Curacao Tourism Development Foundation, said was a good performance, particularly as the North American market showed significant growth.
"Curaçao is a destination which has been a well-kept secret in the North American market," Pennicook said. "It is a hidden gem in the southern Caribbean. We're trying to get the North American market to grow and appreciate over the next few years to be our number one market."
Curaçao's resort base is expanding in 2020 via several projects, highlighted by the November 15 return of the Curaçao Marriott Beach Resort following a three-year closure and a $37 million renovation.
AMRresorts will open a 197-room, all-inclusive Dreams Curaçao Resort, Spa & Casino resort on December 15 on the site of the former Hilton Curaçao. The all-inclusive Corendon Mangrove Beach Resort will open its first phase in April 2020 with 380 rooms.
Jamaica
Jamaica tourism stakeholders have successfully positioned the Caribbean nation as a premier travel destination, said Donovan White, the Jamaica Tourist Board's director. The country attracted 4.3 million visitor arrivals in 2019, with 2.7 million overnight visitors, each spending an average of 8.1 days in the destination, plus an additional 1.6 million cruise ship visitors.
Moreover, global demand for travel to Jamaica increased 76 percent over "the last few years," based on studies of Internet searches by leisure travel-seeking consumers JTB, conducted in partnership with Amadeus, said White.
"Our demand has moved from 426 million searches in 2017 to 832 million searches in 2019," he continued. "What is even more impressive is the industry had 1.3 trillion travel searches globally; our 824 million searches in 2019 represent 1.5 percent of global travel searches. That is a massive indication there is a positive outlook and demand for travel to Jamaica."
In terms of airlift, "The destination has already secured commitments for just over 170,000 new air seats to meet the increased demand for travel to Jamaica," said White, including 68,300 from the United States and 14,200 from Canada.
Jamaica's hotel sector also continues to expand, White said. Montego Bay's luxury Half Moon resort will debut Eclipse at Half Moon, an exclusive 57-room section on the 400-acre property with four new restaurants and bars, on March 1.
Other "mega-developments" expected by the end of 2021 include a 1,900-room Hard Rock Hotel resort including a casino; a 900-room property from Karisma Hotels and a Princess Hotel development featuring 2,000 rooms. "Our partners, new and existing, have continued to invest in our products," said White.
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