PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad οΎ· The outlook is bright for tourism in the greater Caribbean, signaling opportunity for South Florida companies who supply construction materials, furniture, food and other goods and services to the neighboring island chain.
The Caribbean travel and tourism industry, which accounts for 15 percent of the area’s economic activity, is forecast to grow by about 4 percent a year through 2015, said the London-based World Travel & Tourism Council.
Some developments in the world’s most tourism-dependent region:
Air arrivals to the Caribbean region are projected to rise 5 percent this winter tourism season, said Alec Sanguinetti, chief executive of the Caribbean Hotel Association, based in Puerto Rico.
Construction is under way on a 428-room Hyatt hotel and 50,000-square-foot conference center in downtown Port-of-Spain, part of a push by Trinidad to become a prime conference venue. The facilities are scheduled for open in late 2007, said Calder Hart, who chairs the Urban Development Co. of Trinidad & Tobago.
The eastern Caribbean island of St. Lucia plans to open its first casino by December, initially equipped with 350 slot machines and 14 gaming tables.
Managing the 15,00-square-foot casino will be Treasure Bay Corp LLC of Biloxi, Miss., officials said.
Construction has begun on a $100 million five-star resort named Ocean’s Edge in the eastern Caribbean island of St. Kitts.
Newfound Property International of Wimbledon, U.K., is developing the resort with St. Kitts partners on 40 acres overlooking the Atlantic Ocean at Frigate Bay. Plans call for 64 one-bedroom apartments, 60 two-bedroom apartments and 48 two-bedroom garden cottages, as well as 19 villas.
Toronto-based Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Inc. said it signed an agreement with The Wight Group of Schaumburg, Ill. to manage a luxury condo-resort on the west coast of the North Caicos in the Turks & Caicos Islands.
The project includes a 150-room resort, a 150-room condo hotel and several Fairmont-branded residential developments that feature a spa and golf course. The project is to open in 2009.
>Plantation-based call center company PRC, formerly Precision Response Corp., said it added two clients: sister airlines Caribbean Star, based on the island of Antigua, and Caribbean Sun, based in Fort Lauderdale.
PRC will handle their reservations, with agents who speak English and Spanish.
The two privately owned airlines say they now transport more than 80,000 passengers a month in the Caribbean region.
>China has named three more Caribbean nations to the list of countries with “approved destination status,” eligible to receive Chinese tour groups. Joining the list are the Bahamas, Grenada and St. Lucia, bringing to 81 the number of nations approved worldwide.
The World Tourism Organization predicts China will become the world’s fourth largest source of international travelers by 2020.
Three international organizations have agreed to collaborate on tourism-related projects in the Caribbean, aiming to jointly develop Web sites, conduct research and mobilize funds, among other ventures.
Teaming up are the Organization of American States based in Washington. D.C.; Caribbean Tourism Organization based in Barbados; and Caribbean Hotel Association based in Puerto Rico.
Events
Ways to avert cargo theft will be the topic of a luncheon seminar Feb. 22 starting at noon at the Miami Airport Hilton, organized by the Florida Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association.
For information, call 305-499-9490 or check www.fcbf.com.
By Doreen Hemlock, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
