The Caribbean region needs marketing power, and it needs it now, according to panelists speaking on Monday’s “Hotel Leaders Speak Out” general session to open the Caribbean Hotel & Resort Investment Summit.
Facing a long climb out of a rut exacerbated by the recession, the region is in desperate need of a cooperative program to attract new visitors, which will enable hoteliers to improve bottom-line goals, the panelists said.
Lack of airlift remains a concern
As is the norm when discussing challenges facing the Caribbean region, the lack of sufficient airlift was part of the conversation Monday.
“Lift is a big issue,” said Steve Joyce, president and CEO of Choice Hotels International.
George Markantonis of Kerzner International Bahamas said airlift is the biggest issue facing the region, and it’s going to be more of an issue when Baha Mar, a $3.4-billion resort with about 2,500 rooms that is under construction in the Bahamas, opens in late 2014.
“We need 500,000 more arrivals a year to sustain both properties, and we don’t want to wait until 2015 (to start looking for more airlift),” he said, adding that the two properties have teamed up in their quest. “We’re visiting one airline after another, showing the data, showing the budgets. We know we have to get seats in there.”
