Caribbean blames air tax for drop in UK arrivals
The Caribbean saw a drop in the number of UK visitors last year, which it is blaming on the sluggish economy combined with a rise in air passenger duty.
Visitor numbers from the UK dipped to below one million, a 1.4% drop year on year, but the fall was less than from Europe as a whole, which was 3.75% down.
The Caribbean was boosted by a rise in visitor spending last year, which was up 2.3% year on year to an estimated US$28.1 million, despite an overall 1.8% drop in arrivals.
Chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation Beverly Nicholson-Doty said room rates, revenue per available room and occupancy rates were all up last year.
"There wasn’t a single month during 2013 that any of these indicators fell below 2012 levels," she said.
The islands also saw a marked increase in arrivals from South America, up 13% to 1.5 million, and a 2.1% rise in travel within the region to 1.6 million.
Cruise passenger visits were up 2.7% to 21.8 million.
"It’s evident that the atmosphere of despair has lifted and the Caribbean anticipates an improved performance in 2014," said Nicholson-Doty.
"It’s generally expected that global economies will perform better in 2014, with the International Monetary Fund predicting 1% growth across Europe and 2.8% in the US. The demand for travel, therefore, will remain buoyant.
As a result, tourist arrivals to the Caribbean are expected to rise between 2% and 3% in 2014."
Cruise arrivals, she added, were likely to rise by about 3% in 2014.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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