Antigua & Barbuda Needs to Branch Out Travel Offers

The tourism industry in Antigua & Barbuda would benefit if visitors were provided with more options for accommodation, a travel industry expert has said.

Director of Resort Sales and Services at Interval International said one way to diversify the product offering is through the development of the time share sector.

“In our opinion, a diversified tourism economy that has a healthy mix of traditional hotels, whole ownership properties and timeshare resorts really creates a more sustainable tourism economy,” Kolton said.

Interval International is a travel and leisure company representing over two million people and Kolton said the Caribbean is always the first choice for buyers and potential buyers.

But he said, so far, only a handful of Caribbean destinations, mainly St Maarten and Aruba offer timeshare as part of their tourism accommodation product.

“There is this huge opportunity for islands throughout the region that have very few properties,” the travel expert said.

“It is a proven fact that timeshare owners do come back no matter what’s going on in the global economy. They come with larger parties, they book well in advance and generate a greater spend,” according to Kolton.

St. Maarten is seen as the leader in the timeshare business in the Caribbean, and the Dutch island’s prime minister is attending the annual Shared Ownership Investment conference as a testimony of this.

William V Marlin said one of “the major advantage is that it generates automatic repeat visitors. Many of the timeshare owners treat St Maarten as home.”

Source: The Antigua Observer