Record numbers of British holidaymakers will be spending Christmas in the Caribbean this year. But the Bahamas is not among their top ten destinations, according to figures released yesterday.<\/P><\/p>\n
In fact, British prime minister Tony Blair, soccer superstar Wayne Rooney and veteran pop singer Sir Cliff Richard are among British big-spenders who prefer Barbados for their sunshine breaks. And their choice is shared by thousands of their countrymen.<\/P><\/p>\n
Barbados, Miami, Orlando, Antigua and the Dominican Republic are all listed by the London Evening Standard in the top ten Christmas destinations for Brits favouring a long-haul break from their country’s winter gloom.<\/P><\/p>\n
Bouyant<\/B><\/P><\/p>\n
But the Bahamas doesn’t rate a mention, even though European traffic to Nassau and the islands has been quite buoyant in recent years.<\/P><\/p>\n
For both 2003 and 2004, Barbados was number one choice with Florida and Dubai in the Middle East figuring in the top three long-haul resorts.<\/P><\/p>\n
The latest top ten are Barbados, Dubai, Orlando, Goa, Tenerife, Sydney, Miami, New York, Antigua and Maldives. The Dominican Republic came eighth in last year’s poll.<\/P><\/p>\n
Caroline Law, of the Travel Counsellors agency, said nine out of their top ten Christmas destinations this year were long-haul.<\/P><\/p>\n
“More people are taking advantage of the longer break this year, with two bank holidays in a row, to travel to long-haul destinations such as Dubai or the Caribbean.”<\/P><\/p>\n
The British are said to be abandoning traditional Christmases at home to escape family tensions and the foul weather.<\/P><\/p>\n
Psychotherapist Phillip Hodson said British people were tired of the typically stressful family Christmas. <\/P><\/p>\n
“We set Christmas up to be this beacon, this icon at a grotty time of the year when we are all pretty run-down,” he said.<\/P><\/p>\n
“But people are saying they don’t care about the traditional Christmas anymore. <\/P><\/p>\n
“We are being a bit more self-centred and saying ‘what we need is a break, what we don’t need is a stressful time cooking for thousands of people’.<\/P><\/p>\n
“There is also the problem of which of the families are we going to spend Christmas with. A lot of people say ‘to hell with it, let’s go away’.”<\/P><\/p>\n
Mr Hodson said the British were “less well” in the winter. “It is really to do with the amount of sunshine,” he said.<\/P><\/p>\n
So why does the Bahamas lose out to other Caribbean area destinations? Prices are certainly a major factor, according to travel agency sources in London.<\/P><\/p>\n
Service<\/B><\/P><\/p>\n
While Barbados is now seen as an affordable, friendly destination offering good service, the Bahamas is still rated too “upscale and pricey” for many Europeans.<\/P><\/p>\n
Miami, Orlando and the Dominican Republic are also rated significantly cheaper, even though they offer many of the same attractions, including oodles of winter sun.<\/P><\/p>\n
It’s also likely that the British prefer the English feel of Barbados, which has been independent since 1966 but still cherishes its colonial roots.<\/P><\/p>\n
With its rolling hills, lush valleys and splendid beaches, the 21-mile long island also retains many British features and social rituals. Afternoon tea and dressing for dinner are still common, though ‘Bajans’ reject any suggestion of stuffiness.<\/P><\/p>\n
The Bahamas, though it waited seven years longer for independence, has become much more focused on the American way of life over the last 30 years.<\/P><\/p>\n
Its tourist industry has also targeted the North American market, with European trade rated a secondary source of revenue.<\/P><\/p>\n
The Tribune<\/B><\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
So why does the Bahamas lose out to other Caribbean area destinations? Prices are certainly a major factor, according to travel agency sources in London.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-245918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-headlines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245918\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}