Travel Agent recently invited Caribbean tourism delegates to a roundtable discussion in New York to get firsthand status updates from the islands that were devastated by last year’s hurricane season, as well as the ones that were unaffected.
Ruthanne Terrero and Joe Pike of Travel Agent magazine moderated the conversation.
Barbados
Barbados was one of the fortunate islands that went untouched while Hurricane Maria and Hurricane Irma pummeled the rest of the region. In fact, Richard Sealy, minister of tourism and international transport for Barbados, recently announced that the island saw a 5 percent increase in stay-over arrivals last year, an all-time high for the destination.
The hotel developments Roach credits for Barbados’ recent success includes Sandals Royal Barbados, the island’s second Sandals property that debuted in December. The Sandals addition is of particular importance given the brand’s popularity among travel advisors, says Roach.
Additional refurbished properties include the Fairmont Royal Pavilion and Turtle Beach, and redevelopment projects include the Sea Breeze Beach House, Treasure Beach, The Waves Hotel & Spa and upgrades at the Barbados Hilton. Another huge tourism development on the island came recently with the opening of Nikki Beach Barbados.
