Published on : Friday, February 1, 2019
The Director General of the Caribbean Hotel Tourism Association (CHTA), Frank Comito, said that last year, new and upgraded accommodations and additional airlift and greater marketing investments propelled growth in the tourism sector.
Mr. Comito said that the findings were based on CHTA’s 2019 fourth annual Industry, Performance and Outlook survey.
To quote Mr. Comito, “This is a significant development because this has helped increase the quality of our products, the variety of product offerings and average daily rates for the industry as well.”
He added, “So we see evidence here that tourism remains the driver of the economy of the Caribbean is reflected in employment levels and others areas of life in the region.”
CHTA said that the 2017 hurricane season is still impacting a number of destinations with places like Saint Maarten operating at about 45 per cent capacity, along with St. Thomas and St. John.
However, these destinations expect to be back on stream by mid-year.
Jamaica’s Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett said that “the interest in Jamaica and the Caribbean is reflected in the number of buyers who are attending Marketplace from around the world,”