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Caribbean Tourism: The Current Outlook

Tourism in nearly all world sectors, including the Caribbean, took a hit of the unsettling events of September 11th, 2001. Even more worrying for travelers to the Caribbean has been the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, a chaotic weather period that has seen a record breaking 23 named storms. Luckily, the Caribbean tourism season runs from mid December to mid April, after the ending of hurricane season.

The advent of the Caribbean tourism season will bring a large host of festivals and activities throughout the entire region. The Second Annual Cayman Jazzfest runs December 1st through the 3rd on Grand Cayman, and features such names as Ravi Coltrane, Yolanda Adams, and Al Jarreau. Celebrating it's inaugural year in St. John in the United States Virgin Islands will be the St. John Christmas Music Festival: With Love from Love City. Running December 16th through the 18th, the festival will feature talented performers and entertainers playing gospel, jazz, calypso, and reggae. The event will be held at Winston Wells Ball Field in Cruz Bay. Admission is free

For more information on the current state of Caribbean tourism, check out the headlines from these top news sources:

Eat, drink, and be merry: It's Christmas in Montserrat (Travel Video TV)
Point Grace Places #7 in the Top Ten Caribbean/Atlantic Hotels in the Conde Nast Traveler 2005 Readers Choice Awards; Elegant boutique hotel in Turks & Caicos recognized as best of the best (Business Wire)
Island Fever: What $1,000 will buy (Miami Herald)
Caribbean Star expands its fleet (Jamaica Observer)
Caribbean Fears Storms Will Hurt Tourism (MSN Money)
Impact of Cruise Tourism on the Caribbean to be Studied (Hard Beat News)
Tourism stakeholders plan'One Caribbean' brand (My Caribbean News)
It's All About'The Experience Stupid' - Caribbean Tourism Boss (Hard Beat News)

For more information on the specific effects of Hurricane Wilma on Caribbean tourism, check out the headlines from these top news sources:

Hurricane Season 2005: Fact Sheet #1 (Relief Web)
Wilma deals $800 million blow to Mexican travel industry (CNN)
Transfer 3,000 tourists from Cancun to DR (Dominican Today)

Hurricanes are not the only important concerns facing the Caribbean. To read more about subjects such as disputed territory, coral bleaching, and earthquakes, check out the following articles:

Venezuela, Caribbean countries at odds over island (CNN)
NOAA Finds Coral Bleaching In The Caribbean (Hard Beat News)
Warm Oceans Threaten Caribbean Coral Reefs (Los Angeles Times)
Quake rattles Caribbean Islands (Seattle Post Intelligencer)


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News of Interest

While Hurricane Wilma has been rightfully dominating the headlines in the Caribbean, prospective vacationers should be aware of other news affecting the region.

For more information on significant hotel and facility openings and closings, read the following articles:

Puerto Rico: largest Caribbean conference center built (Pravda.RU)
Spanish hotel chains to close their hotels in Cancun (Dominican Today)

Tourists in the region will also be heartened to learn that local health officials are taking steps to prevent and deal with an occurence of the frightening strain of bird flu currently spreading throughout the globe:

Caribbean Officials Seek Bird Flu Prevention (Prensa Latina)
Caribbean must be ready to detect bird flu (Jamaica Observer)


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