TRAVEL GOSSIP: Aviation and tourism experts in the Caribbean say it’s vital that there’s an improvement in air links between the islands to boost tourism.
Currently, there aren’t enough flights and they’re too expensive, they say.
Speaking at the Caribbean Travel Forum 2025 in Antigua this month, Mario Reyes, the former owner of Caribbean airline Go Fly told delegates that intra-Caribbean travel started to diminish in the early noughties, ironically when islands built their own airports, which encouraged more locals to fly to destinations outside the Caribbean, including the US, Canada and Europe.
Additionally, Government taxes at airports across the region caused the cost of tickets to rise. Sunrise Airways Chief Commercial Officer Claudio Buncamper said: “The cost of operations in this region is absurd. We at Sunrise offer flights from destinations and while we charge $100 a ticket, we pay $600 just for handling our aircraft – that’s six seats and nearly 20% of our occupancy without any other charges.”
Commissioner of Tourism and Culture of Saint-Martin Valerie Damaseau added: “When you talk about inter-regional travel at the current moment, I would say that for 90% of the people it is not an option. When people have their disposable income to travel, they will travel elsewhere because it’s more cost-effective.”
Sentiment expressed by delegates at the conference was that intra-Caribbean flights are too expensive for international travellers too.
Anguilla blamed a lack of direct flights to the UK for a 7% drop in British visitor numbers. Conversely, the island has seen a 33% increase in tourism overall. Deputy Director Tourism Chantelle Richardson told Travel Gossip this drop was because other destinations, such as Antigua and Barbuda, were benefiting from direct links to the UK. “The UK market remains a key focus for Anguilla and we are looking to rebuild the number of UK holidaymakers,” she said. To rebuild these links, Anguilla is looking to promote itself as a twin destination to UK holidaymakers, she added.
The UK remains the largest market for Barbados, which saw an 11% increase in arrivals last year, and, with more hotels due to open this year, it is pushing to extend its season. Barbados Tourism Marketing Chief Executive Officer Andrea Franklin said: “Our aim is for Barbados to become a year-round tourism destination and not just concentrate on three to four weeks.” Addressing concerns around the amount of new development on the island – where there are at least six international hotels in the pipeline she said: “We certainly have areas on the island that are not as widely-used as not as widely developed and those are the areas that we still encourage persons to visit. “Part of growth however is that things will change. Particularly in development, you will see infrastructure changing. The essence of who we are and the essence of what we offer still remains and I think that we are still very much a gem and a unique destination and certainly Barbados still positions itself as a luxury high-end destination, but we do offer something for everyone to have the luxury and the mid-range and budget conscious.”
Turks & Caicos is also seeing a significant amount of hotel construction. New hotels include Andaz and the Loren at Turtle Cove, both expected to open in 2026. The ninth Virtuoso property will also soon open. Others due to open in 2027 include Kempinski Grace Bay, Kimpton Turks and Caicos, The St Regis Providencialses Grace Bay and Hotel Indigo Grace Bay TKCA.