By Frank Martin

The Caribbean tourism industry will have an excellent opportunity at the World Travel Market in London next November to showcase the restoration successes it has achieved in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The renowned London annual event will be back from the 7th to the 9th of next month and one of its objectives will be to analyze the commercial successes of this important world economic sector that was hit hard by coronavirus during 2020 and 2021.

A good example of the advances in this complex objective will be taken to this world event by the Jamaica Tourist Board.

The Jamaican board achieved that in 2021 tourism on that island was declared “World’s Leading Wedding Destination” for the second consecutive year by the World Travel Awards presented by the London event.

It also won “Caribbean Leading Destination” for the 16th consecutive year and “Best Nature Destination in the Caribbean” among others.

Jamaica had its tourist reopening early, in June 2020 and has since received some 5 million 173 thousand visitors, which includes transit arrivals and cruise passengers.

The example does not obscure, but makes other Caribbean successes aimed at defeating Covid-19 in 2022 more brilliant.

Experts say that the more than 7,000 islands in the region are still together the most enchanting natural destinations in the world.

All those destinations, however small they may be, are well represented by their diverse cultures, beaches and landscapes.

Before the pandemic they attracted more than 30 million annual visitors.

During the current year they have stood out despite headwinds such as the resurgence of forms of the coronavirus and the aftermath of the war in Ukraine, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico and Aruba, among others.

Dominicans again this year offered excellent places in

La Romana and Bayahibe, just a hundred kilometers from Santo Domingo, and in Punta Cana, a tourist destination of excellence in Latin America.

Cuba has managed to maintain a tourist restoration against all odds. Expect more than two million tourists in all of 2022, an excellent base for a roaring 2023.

International experts in this industry mention Playa Ancón a lot  a magical place that attracts everyone with its white sands and diverse blue and green tones of the sea.

Playa Ancón is undoubtedly one of the colonial architectural jewels that Cuba houses. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

What can be expected for 2023?

One of the most recent results of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer highlighted that the sector experienced a strong rebound in the first five months of 2022, with almost 250 million international arrivals registered.

The figure indicates that the global leisure industry has recovered in that period almost half (46%) of the level prior to the 2019 pandemic.

Forecasts show that this means that 2023 will be a prosperous year for this crucial branch.

Regarding Jamaica, Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett predicted that the island has great expectations for tourism in the coming year.

“Based on the track record, we have every reason to believe that 2023 will be an incredible year for tourism. We have recovered faster than anyone could have imagined,” he recently told reporters.

Regarding Cuba, the authorities of that country said that the next annual period will be that of a complete recovery of the leisure industry.

Even a local prediction stated that the Cuban tourism industry could serve 5 million clients in 2023.

For its part, the Dominican Republic hopes to approach or exceed 10 million arrivals next year.

FM