CTO reports that tourism from Italy to the Caribbean has maintained the large increases which prevailed in the winter months and the key tour operators report that the region is currently the most popular long-haul destination. Tour operators are making big investments supporting direct charter services to many more Caribbean destinations. Antigua, Barbados, and the Turks & Caicos will all benefit from new charter flights while another will shortly be reinstated to St. Maarten. The Dominican Republic and Cuba continue to hold the largest share of charter seats but the market is spreading out.
The demand for last minute seats also continues to be a major factor and is largely driven by anticipated price reductions and “fire” sales with the over abundance of seats.
CTO warns that the increased popularity of the Caribbean has caused more speculative investment and a number of programs have failed after only a few weeks of operation, or have had the number of seats drastically reduced.