WTM 2014: Caribbean Targets Ongoing UK Growth in 2015

Caribbean tourism bosses are targeting growth in UK arrivals of between 4 and 5 percent in 2015 on the back of a strong first half of 2014. Overall visitor numbers to the region were up 4.3 percent in the first six months of 2014, with UK arrivals up by 4.9 percent to 485,700.

The Caribbean Tourism Organization said it was "cautiously optimistic" that the trend would continue into 2015 when it expects further growth of 4-5 percent.

Speaking at the launch of the organization's first UK and European trends report at World Travel Market, director of marketing for UK and Europe Carol Hay said it was 'realistic' to target similar growth from the UK in 2015.

And she said a range of leisure agent training and fam trips would be bolstered by an increased focus on the MICE market to achieve that goal.

The CTO recently announced a revamped online training program called Caribbean Travel Guru, and Hay said the organization would be targeting around 50 agent sign-ups each month to add to the around 300 currently registered.

Hugh Riley, secretary general of the CTO, reiterated the status of the UK market to key destinations in the region. But he insisted that growth in overall arrivals had to be matched by growth in expenditure.

He said: "Arrivals continue to be an important metric but you then have to ensure that the growth is profitable.

"We are happy to see arrivals increasing and staying consistent with global increases (of 4.6 percent), but we are also delighted to see the gap closing between arrivals and expenditure."