Janet Silvera, Freelance WriterWESTERN BUREAU:
CARIBBEAN HOTEL Association (CHA) executives are forecasting that the region's tourism will recover by late 2003, but the tour operators responsible for placing the business in the area are calling it "Optimistic Exaggeration".
At a Caribbean Marketplace press conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Tuesday, Alec Sanguinetti, Director-General of CHA told journalists that advanced bookings for the next 60 days were running at 15 per cent below last year, but he remained "extremely optimistic" that by late 2003-2004, the region should see the impending recovery.
However, according to Jim Proctor of Air Canada Vacations, Canada's largest tour operator, a late 2003 recovery is unrealistic expectations.
"The US economy is not doing well, and given that the US drives the Caribbean economy it's not gonna happen and that is simple Maths," he said.
Proctor added that the region's survival is dependent on the continuation of sale rates which started late last year. "There are still too few clients chasing too many rooms."
He was supported by Go-Go Worldwide Vacations, the largest Tour Operator to the Caribbean. "War looms over our heads, we are in a slow recovery mode and are very nervous about the future," Go-Go's Vice President of Marketing, Ed Fiorvante, told The Gleaner.
In the meantime the CHA which boasts a membership of 856 hotels with 119,878 rooms are confident that this expected growth is dependent on the Caribbean being more competitive in the areas of product development, service, its value for money and competitive marketing.
In a strong message to its members and regional heads, the Director General, re-iterated some of the challenges the region has faced over the years, challenges which are even now more pronounced than ever.
"Today's traveller is more sophisticated and more demanding, for example, getting away from it all is being redefined," he remarked.
"Visitors now want to be able to stay connected and our industry must pay urgent attention to the improvement of our product in all areas."
He noted that the tourism industry accounts for one in four jobs in the Caribbean. Within the past 30 years its growth has been above world average. However, since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, there has been a three per cent decline, which is the fourth recorded since 1970.
In 1975 the industry experienced the oil crisis, in 1981 the global recession, the Gulf War of 1991 and fell flat after the September 11 attacks.
