May 2016 Financial News

WTO: Growth in T&T's tourism market

May 11, 2016

A new report from the World Tourism Organisation (WTO) contains good news for the tourism industry in T&T. It lists this country, and Tobago in particular, among the fastest growing tourism market in the world, according to the World Tourism Organisation.

The results were published in a CNN yesterday which states: "The always sundrenched Caribbean is looking particularly fetching right now.

Island sojourns are in high demand, hotels in the region are getting deluxe upgrades and airlines are opening more routes connecting the world to the Caribbean -- all of which has made for tourism growth that's outshining the rest of the world's. The Caribbean opened its arms to 7 per cent more tourists last year, growth that was higher than every other region, and nearly double the 4.4 per cent global average tourism growth in 2015, according to the World Tourism Organization.

So why are more folks flocking to the tropics? Mostly because more people have more money to play with now that the global economy is getting itself in order.

And because air capacity hit a well-timed growth spurt.Jet Blue was the Caribbean's biggest fan, adding flights from the U.S. to Curacao, Grenada and Barbados, with plans to open up flights from Fort Lauderdale to the Bahamas in August. Delta increased air capacity to Belize and St. Croix, and Alitalia added flights from Milan to Antigua & Barbuda.

Source:
Trinidad Guardian, A15
Wednesday May 11, 2016