CTO's Carol Hay: It’s Our Plan to Attend FITUR 2018
Within the framework of the International Tourism Fair (FITUR 2017) in Madrid, Spain, Caribbean News Digital sat down with of the friendliest and most familiar faces of the Caribbean Tourism Organization: Carol Hay, the organization’s Marketing Director for the United Kingdom and Europe.
This is your third consecutive time here in Fitur. What are the expectations for this year?
This is our third time here. That’s because we started to see some growth in the Spanish market, not a massive growth, but it is encouraging and it is letting us see that the economy is changing here, in Spain. People are more interested now in visiting long-haul destinations and they are also becoming quite adventurous.
As well as the Spanish Caribbean they know, they are also showing more interest in the English-speaking Caribbean, the Dutch Caribbean and the French Caribbean. Therefore, it’s good for us to be here.
You came here with the booth of CTO, but also you came with some destinations. Which are they?
This year we are sharing with the islands of the Bahamas, Nassau Paradise Islands from the Bahamas, Belize and Martinique. Aruba and Jamaica are also here with the booth.
We have a lot of developments in our various destinations. We are seeing people being willing to spend a lot more to visit the Caribbean and it is important for us to ensure that we focus on the Spanish market, continue to be here to meet with tour operators, travel agents and the media because we want people to know, particularly the trade, that the Caribbean is definitely interested in this market and we want to do our best to grow our market share.
Do you have also some Spanish-speaking countries, like Cuba and the Dominican Republic, inside of the CTO?
The Spanish-speaking countries that we work with are Cuba, Venezuela and Puerto Rico. Those are the member countries of the CTO. The Dominican Republic is no longer a member of CTO.
How was the meeting with tour operators? Did you sing any long-term agreement?
We’re happy to meet with tour operators and it’s good when you come here because you meet not only with the traditional tour operators, but you also get to meet with some of the on-line tour operators and on-line travel agents.
When you come here, you get to meet the major players in the market, you get to understand what their strategy is, you get to understand what type of product they are looking for and we’re able to recommend the type of product in the Caribbean that would suit them.
Moreover, when you are here, we also get to meet with some of the on-line marketing companies as well, particularly those that focus on travel and tourism. Through them we get to understand better the bookings trends, how people are booking, how much they are spending.
When you come to an event like this, you also get to learn more about the Spanish market.
The British are the main market for the Caribbean for CTO. Aren’t they?
They are a primary market for us. The United Kingdom is a good market for us because we have a lot of direct airlift. We also have the German market, French market, the Netherlands, Spanish, Italian and Scandinavian. There are a number of European markets that we are working with because we know that the Caribbean product is a product they like, it is a diverse product.
As for 2017, it is the year of adventure for the Caribbean. The Secretary General of the Caribbean Tourism Organization, Hugh Riley, announced that 2017 is a year of adventure and we’re inviting visitors to come to the Caribbean and have an adventure with us, to experience our food, our heritage, our culture, to try diving, snorkeling, sailing, yachting and visiting several islands.
When people come to the Caribbean this year, we encourage them to have an adventure, visit more than one destination. It’s possible to get along the Caribbean even by the ferries, by international airlines, by regional airlines. If the visitors are sailors, they can also charter their own yacht, their own boats, depending on their budget.
We are telling them to have an adventure in the Caribbean, come an experience a new culture, new food, talk to local people and learn so much more about the Caribbean.
How is Brexit affecting the travel industry to the Caribbean?
Right now, the statistics that we have indicate for us that Brexit has not had a massive impact in terms of visitor numbers. Not yet. We might see changes as the fact that the pound has devalued against all major currencies and, therefore, that might have a slight impact on the price of holidays.
The real impact of Brexit, is there is any, we will see in 2017 when the United Kingdom begins the actual physical separation in terms of being a member of the European Union. We cannot predict what impact it will have, but we know for sure that we are open for business, that we have many strong alliances with Europe. Remember that in the Caribbean we have Spanish-speaking countries, Dutch and French-speaking countries, so we still have a very strong relationship with Europe and we will continue through tourism to build our relationship with all European countries, including the United Kingdom.
The UK government set up the APD tax for travelers to the Caribbean. With Brexit, do you think the British government is still going to have an APD or make it stronger?
That’s a difficult question to answer, but what I can tell you is that within the United Kingdom we are part of a group that is still lobbying against the Air Passenger Duty. We still feel that is an unfair tax. Brexit or not Brexit, the Caribbean still continues to lobby against the APD.
Changes have been made to the APD, but we believe that there should be no Air Passenger Duty and that’s what we are lobbying against.
Which are the countries in CTO that are investing more in promotion here, mostly in Spain?
I think it’s best to say that the countries that are investing in the Spanish market are the ones coming here. The Bahamas is here, Nassau Paradise Islands, Belize, Martinique, Jamaica, Cuba. Those are the member countries that are here and it is fair to say that when a country attends a trade show, that is part of the investment.
For those who cannot be here because of budget reasons, the CTO is always responsible for promoting all its member countries. While we are here, we have been receiving inquiries about other countries that are not here and we’ve been sharing information on those countries.
What are the expectations of the upcoming Caribbean Marketplace in the Bahamas?
Caribbean Marketplace is held every year in the Caribbean. This year it is being held in the Bahamas and it’s a great show to attend because you not only get to meet with the destinations, but you also get to meet with the DMCs and a lot of hotel partners. The buyers for that show come from all over the world. We have buyers from North America, Europe and South America as well.
Caribbean Marketplace is a fantastic event to really go to the source of the Caribbean and see what the developments are, what’s happening, and also for tour operators and media it’s a great way to build more contacts, get up-to-date news and find out how the Caribbean will continue to remain competitive.
Will CTO attend Fitur 2018?
It is our plan to attend Fitur 2018. We plan to be here and hopefully we can attract more destinations to join us because it is a good show and the Spanish market is a good market. We want to do more business here and if we have more partners with us, we will have greater impact in this market.
