The Caribbean appears to be cooking. In
a poll of 257 Travel Weekly readers, 51% said their Caribbean
bookings have increased year-over-year. In comparison, 20% said bookings to Central America or Latin
America have increased. Seventy percent said the number of
Caribbean bookings likely will increase next year.
When it comes to
the Caribbean, agent bookings benefit tour operators and
wholesalers. On average, 72% of all 2004 Caribbean bookings were
packages or programs booked with wholesalers and tour
operators.
The top five
Caribbean destinations agents booked in 2004 were Jamaica (85%),
the Bahamas (78%), the U.S. Virgin Islands (55%), Aruba (51%) and
the Cayman Islands (41%).
Art Pfenning is
the research director for Northstar Travel Media, Travel Weeklys
parent company. For information on how research can help your
business, or if you are interested in having NTM Research conduct
your next project, contact Pfenning at [email protected].