Above: the Grotto Pool at the Atlantis resort
By the Caribbean Journal staff
This year’s Caribbean Travel Marketplace showed increased activity and interest, according to the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association.
This year’s event, held at the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas, saw 226 more pre-scheduled business meetings than the 12,476 scheduled ahead of 2012’s event.
International buyer interest improved as well, with 22 countries represented, an increase of four countries over 2012.
Five new countries participated in the travel marketing event, including 15 companies from France as well as delegates from Belgium, China, Ireland, Poland and Switzerland.
“Tour operators and wholesalers are often the first to feel shifts in demand for vacation products,” said Richard J. Doumeng, president of the CHTA, in a statement. “If interest from buyers at Caribbean Travel Marketplace is any indication, things are definitely looking up for the region in 2013.”