Stability and big economic gains are luring investors to Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, and the Caribbean Tourism Organization is now suggesting the region’s states should keep an eye on these countries as emergent sources of travelers to the Caribbean. “Inflation and unemployment have tapered off, currencies are stable and new prosperity will help to fuel pent up demand for long haul holidays in exotic places, including the Caribbean,” says the CTO in its July CTO Tourism Monitor report.
Likewise, CTO points to South Africa. It states that the Pacific Asia Travel Association is projecting an 80% growth in visits to its member states by South Africans over the next five years. Last year nearly 215,000 South African vacationers visited that region. Tour operators in South Africa are advising of similar levels of interest in the Caribbean, particularly in sports tourism and also from an increasingly affluent segment of the majority black population.