Caribbean Travel Trends 2015: What To Look Forward To in the New Year

There is a measure of inevitability when it comes to the warm-weather destinations of the Caribbean and Latin America. As they. Have for generations, their resplendent natural beauty will continue to. Draw vacationers from every part of the globe.

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However with so many of the region’s nations emerging as viable travel destinations in recent years, they will more than ever rely on inherent strengths to differentiate themselves among increasingly fierce competition. Those strengths – and some weaknesses as well will become evident as 2015 gets under way.

Haiti’s Tourism Development

Haiti will be the Caribbean destination to watch in 2015 as the country’s government continues a series of projects and initiatives to resurrect the tourist arrivals success it briefly enjoyed between the 1950s and early1980s. Over the past two years Haiti’s government, working through the ministries of tourism and culture, has unveiled plans for thousands of new hotel rooms, resorts and cruise developments at sites around the country.

The projects include a 5,680-acre development at Cotes-de-Fer, a small fishing village, to feature 20,000 rooms spread across four hotels with an 18–hole golf course, a beach club and a small airport. The government has launched work on a 2,500-room resort development that will also include an international airport on the island of Ile-a-Vache. In August, Haiti inked a memorandum of understanding with cruise operator Carnival Corp. to build a $70 million pier and facility on Tortuga Island.

DR Tourism Growth

Dominican Republic tourism will bear watching in 2015, mainly to determine if the country will again approach 2014’s record-breaking tourist arrivals. The country’s 4,214,764 arrivals through October 2014 (the latest date for which figures were available) represent a 9.7 percent increase over the same period in 2013.

The Dominican Republic is already the most-visited Caribbean destination. The country hosted 4.7 million overnight tourists in 2013 according to statistics from the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), nearly twice the number hosted by Cuba, the next-largest country. Radhames Martinez Aponte, the Dominican Republic’s vice minister of tourism noted that Dominican tourism grew 3.6 percent in 2013 “while the entire Caribbean grew only one percent.”

All inclusive Expansion

All-inclusive resorts have emerged as one of the fastest growing area of leisure travel. Fifteen years ago there were about four major all-inclusive resort brands in the Caribbean and Mexico.

Today, there are more than 20 major brands, plus countless sub-brands including luxury- and family focused all inclusive properties. Where all-inclusive resorts were once positioned exclusively in the mass market, today the concept has filtered up to the premium and luxury segments, encompassing an expanding array of traveler profiles.

Brands like Hyatt and Palace Resorts have recently invigorated the category with new properties in Jamaica, and other brands like Sonesta have transitioned their resorts to join the all-inclusive category. It remains to be seen how much the category will expand in 2015.

Brazil Beyond the World Cup

Brazil’s tourism stakeholders will seek to extend positive hospitality and visitor spending achievements recorded during this summer’s World Cup as the country prepares to host the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Brazilian hotels recorded a 50.1 percent increase in average daily rate (ADR) in June and a 36.1 percent ADR increase in July compared with 2013, according to STR.

As expected, World Cup tourism generated a financial impact in Brazil. Foreign tourists spent $4.935 billion in the country between January and August, 8.8 percent more than the same period in 2013.

The increase is a direct result of the World Cup, said Walter Ferreira, deputy chairman of Embratur (Brazil’s tourism board), as more than a million travelers entered Brazil in July and July, spending $1.58 billion.

The World Cup also provided Brazil with opportunities to both showcase 12 cities within this vast country, including regions, attractions and sites of interest to international tourists. The event also served as an impromptu test run for Brazil’s hosting of the 2016 Olympics.

Securing Central America

Several Central American countries are on the watch list for increased tourist arrivals in 2015 after strong performances in 2014.

Guatemala hosted 529,744 visitors in the third quarter of 2014, an increase of nearly three percent over 515,189 third-quarter visitors in 2013, according to data from Inguat, the Guatemala Institute of Tourism. North American arrivals totaled 147,644.

Guatemala’s visitor growth comes as the country welcomes several new hotel properties including the Ramada Tikal Isla De Flores hotel, which opened in October. Other familiar North American brands planning new properties include Hyatt, Courtyard by Marriott and La Quinta, said Pedro Duchez, Inguat’s director.

Another Central American county, Belize, tallied one million combined land and cruise-ship travelers through October 2014.

Belize hosted 266,107 land-based, overnight arrivals and 752,598 cruise-ship visitors during the period.

Belize’s arrival at the one million visitor mark comes two months earlier than BTB officials had earlier forecast. “Belize is well on its way to having the most visitors ever in its history,” officials said.

El Salvador is poised to join other Central American countries as a favorite among American leisure travelers. The country welcomed 443,000 North American visitors in 2012, drawing adventure-loving travelers who appreciate the region’s outstanding natural beauty and rich history and culture. Several U.S. and Latin American carriers offer flights to San Salvador, the capital.