This Year to be Slow in the Caribbean
Wednesday, January 7th, 2008
Caribbean nations have experienced tremendously tough times over the past year. Though the 2008 hurricane season was relatively light in the US, the Caribbean fared much worse. Cuba alone received $10 billion in damages as multiple tropical storms battered its shores and ravaged its inland areas. There were many fatalities in the impoverished nation of Haiti. And important elements of infrastructure were damaged or destroyed across much of the region.
Now the poor state of the economy across the Americas is creating havoc just as the Caribbean tourist season is about to get underway in earnest. Tourism revenue is needed to rebuild islands and inject cash into struggling economies. But, if the recent trend of would-be travelers staying home, or at least vacationing nearer to home, continues, the Caribbean will be seeing a lot less income this season.
Some hotels are already feeling the slowdown. The famed Atlantis Hotel in the Bahamas recently laid off 800 workers to make to meet their budget. Resorts around the region are making significant cuts, with more expected by the end of the year.
The Caribbean tourism industry would be able to draw tourists by decreasing prices, but the fact that airfares are likely to remain high throughout the winter means that any attempts at that kind of promotion are likely to be hamstrung.
And the hard times don’t stop there. Many island nations rely on money sent from citizens and relatives of citizens living overseas to pad their GDP. These remittances have dried up somewhat as those working in the US or Europe have been struggling to make ends meet for themselves.
All this does not mean that there will be no tourists in the Gulf of Mexico this year. The economy of Caribbean region, as a whole, is growing, albeit much slower that previous years. But, if you are looking for the right year to spend some of the winter on an island in the West Indies, this might be the best year to do it. If you can afford the airfare, that is.