CTO Chair Forecasts Arrival of Deep-Pocket Canadian Tourists

Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) Chairman Allen Chastanet is predicting a future that will include higher-end vacations to the Caribbean for more Canadian visitors, based on what he referred to as Canada’s “soaring” dollar value.

At the end of last week, the strength of the Canadian dollar marginally surpassed that of the U.S. dollar for the first time in 31 years.

“The Canadian dollar is going to go much further,” Mr. Chastanet said. “So instead of some of the cheaper vacations that people have been accustomed to taking in the past, you are going to find that you can get five-star, golf resort (stays) in the Caribbean.”

Mr. Chastanet, who is also the Minister of Tourism for St. Lucia, made the prediction near the end of the first Caribbean Week held by CTO in Toronto late last week. Mr. Chastanet said the event was a good way to show off some of what the Caribbean has to offer. He said no other region has the type of diversity that the Caribbean has.

Meanwhile, he said, Caribbean leaders have already agreed to put mechanisms in place that will make tourism promotions more effective.

“We have a group of Ministers of Tourism today who have agreed to restructure CTO, restructure how we look at this Caribbean, and I promise you that we are going to give you a world class product,” he said. “I think you are going to see many more people working together to take advantage of the uniqueness that we have.”

Mr. Chastanet said the Caribbean is already seeing more air charters than at any other time from Canada. In addition, airlines are seeking to expand their scheduled services from Canada into the Caribbean, he said.