What’s New in the Caribbean for 2022

The Caribbean has been one of Travel Leaders Group’s top 10 travel destinations for a long time, according to the consortium’s president, John Lovell, who said the diverse collection of islands has traditionally finished as his company’s seventh or eighth bestselling global vacation destination annually.

The pandemic turned last year into a much different story; in 2021, the Caribbean ended up in third place, right after Mexico and Hawaii, which were the first- and second-most popular global destinations.

“The Caribbean jumped exponentially in terms of destinations that people wanted to travel to and did travel to,” Lovell said of 2021 business to the region, adding that interest for the destination soared throughout the year on the company’s website. 

The Caribbean jumped exponentially in terms of destinations that people wanted to travel to and did travel to.

“We saw 63% growth in leads to our agents for people who wanted to travel to the Caribbean,” Lovell said. “That was easily one of the highest increases we saw anywhere over 2019 data points.”

Longtime Caribbean seller Jill Dowdy, owner of Philadelphia-based Jill Dowdy Travel, said she enjoyed one of her most successful Caribbean sales years ever in 2021, as destinations including Jamaica and Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic were extremely attractive to her clientele. 

“I sent a majority of my clients to Punta Cana, in part because it didn’t have a lot of COVID-19 protocols,” Dowdy said. “And I think everyone was so ready to just go somewhere. Everybody was in their house for all of 2020, and 2021 came around, and many of them had money to burn.”

Looking ahead, Dowdy said she’s very optimistic about her business to the region again this year.

“I have a lot of Caribbean on the books,” she said. “I have St. Martin. I have St. Thomas. I have Antigua and Punta Cana. People are still booking and still ready to travel.” 

The Good (and Bad) News 

The Caribbean was also a critical component of ALG Vacations’ (ALGV) business last year, and the region finished as the wholesaler’s second-best-performing international destination behind Mexico, according to Ray Snisky, group president for ALGV. But when compared to 2019, ALGV’s sales to the Caribbean plunged 40% last year, Snisky said, noting the many different and frequently changing COVID-19 protocols for the individual island nations were especially challenging. 

Meanwhile, competitor Mexico — and more specifically, Cancun — gained tremendous market share in 2021 thanks to its lack of a pretest mandate, which spurred demand and an increase in air seats, according to Snisky, who noted that the Omicron variant further complicated matters starting in late fall of last year.

“We saw a bunch of cancellations short-term,” Snisky said of ALGV’s bookings to the Caribbean. “We took a hit in the beginning of January and February, but we’ve seen in the last five weeks an increase in performance week after week. We’re now at pre-Omicron levels in our booking pace.” 

The Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Aruba have been ALGV’s top-performing destinations in the Caribbean, according to Snisky, who noted his company has also seen substantial improvement from the U.S. Virgin Islands and dramatic growth from Puerto Rico, a destination where ALGV’s sales are up 33% in 2022 when compared with the same three-month period in 2019. 

Puerto Rico is really the shining star. It’s grown to be, in certain time periods, our fourth-largest destination in the Caribbean, which is fantastic.

“Puerto Rico is really the shining star,” Snisky said, noting U.S. citizens don’t need to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test to fly home from the destination. “It’s grown to be, in certain time periods, our fourth-largest destination in the Caribbean, which is fantastic.” 

Like travel advisor Dowdy, Snisky attributed ALGV’s spike in late first quarter and springtime Caribbean bookings this year largely to pent-up demand.

“Because of some of the inconsistencies in COVID-19 protocols and limitations in air service, the Caribbean traveler has had a year-and-a-half break from the Caribbean,” he explained. “And now, they’re excited about coming back.”

Is the Worst Behind Us?

Donovan White, director of the Jamaica Tourist Board, said visitor arrivals were off more than 50% in his country last year when compared with 2019, and concerns about the Omicron variant led to some vacation cancellations and many rebookings for the destination. 

But like Dowdy and Snisky, White and Jamaica tourism officials expect that pent-up demand from American travelers will help boost visitor arrivals and spending year over year in 2022. The destination has already seen its booking pace for spring and summer this year increase in recent weeks.  

“We are projecting we will reach somewhere between 2.45 to 2.5 million visitors arriving in the destination,” White said, an annual total that would be about 25% off from 2019’s figures. “We are also forecasting a [total 2022 visitor] spend of about $2.9 billion.” 

Meanwhile, visitor arrivals to Anguilla last year weren’t anywhere near the 2019 highs, according to Kenroy Herbert, chairman of the Anguilla Tourist Board. But he’s hopeful the small nation will set new records in 2022.

“Right now, our goal this year is 100,000 visitors,” Herbert explained. “In 2019, we had 90,000. … As long as things continue in this trend, then we should be good.” 

Herbert said Omicron did take a toll on Anguilla’s tourism industry, but the destination is now seeing that turn around, and he not only pointed toward pent-up U.S. demand for his bullish outlook on 2022, but also an increase in international air seats to the island. 

“American Airlines now has direct flights from Miami into Anguilla,” Herbert said. “Starting in April, American is going to begin daily flights — not just three flights a week.” 

Herbert also noted Anguilla has seen an unexpected but substantial surge in meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions business. 

“We thought it was going to be at least another two years before we saw an uptick there,” he explained. “But right now in Anguilla, there are some big groups on the books to come into the Four Seasons Resort and Residences Anguilla and Cap Juluca, A Belmond Hotel.”

Sanju Luidens, chief marketing officer for the Aruba Tourism Authority, said the destination welcomed more than 800,000 total visitors in 2021, just over 25% off from 2019’s figures. Bookings to Aruba did slow down with the rise of Omicron, according to Luidens, but she said they have picked up again recently, and hoteliers at the destination are forecasting occupancies in the 80% range for much of the remainder of the year.

Like Anguilla, Aruba is expecting growth in available airlift in 2022, according to Luidens, who pointed to a government forecast projecting air seats to the destination will climb 12% over 2019’s totals. She also said interest remains relatively high for the nation’s “One Happy Workation” program, which allows U.S. travelers to work remotely and stay up to 90 days with just their passport.

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“On average, we’ve seen about 10% of the arrivals per month being Workation visitors,” Luidens said. 

Has Caribbean Cruising Turned a Corner?

Vicki Freed, senior vice president of sales, trade support and service for Royal Caribbean International (RCI), said her company is seeing Caribbean bookings climb in recent weeks following an Omicron-fueled slowdown.

We are seeing momentum really pick up. And it’s coming, particularly, from the travel trade.

“We are seeing momentum really pick up,” Freed explained. “And it’s coming, particularly, from the travel trade. … They really have shifted share to our brand.” 

Freed pointed to RCI’s autumn 2021 Instant Booking Bonus program for travel advisors — offered in September, October and November — as a possible motivator behind the cruise line’s increased business from the travel trade.

“We kept them whole on their normal 15% commission,” Freed said. “But for three months, we had an instant booking bonus, where advisors could earn anywhere from $50 to $200 every time they made a deposited booking.”

RCI’s Vaccine Health App has also been popular among travel advisors booking clients on the company’s Caribbean sailings, according to Freed.

“Advisors can put in the guest booking number, and then it populates what the requirements are: what are the protocols, when do they need to get the test, and when do they need to make sure they’ve had the second shot of a vaccination,” Freed said. “We developed a tool like this so advisors didn’t have to feel like, ‘Uh-oh, am I giving the right information?’ It really wound up being a confidence builder for our travel partners.” 

Dan Rough, vice president of pricing and demand for Holland America Line (HAL), noted the company’s brand-new Rotterdam vessel made its first-ever passenger sailing in the Caribbean in November last year. And while he described 2021 as primarily a “return-to-service year,” he said HAL plans to have seven ships in the Caribbean by summer 2022.

Describing the Omicron variant as more of “a speed bump” that led to some cancellations, Rough also indicated bookings to the Caribbean have looked much rosier recently.

“We’ve seen demand surge back over the last couple weeks,” he explained. “Definitely for that March-April timeframe, we’ve certainly seen a resurgence in volume.”

Rough added that HAL’s 10- and 11-day sailings in the Caribbean have been especially popular so far in 2022.

“Those cruises allow you to really go deep and explore and visit some of those far-flung destinations,” he said. “Those who are in the know tend to find those early, and that’s where we’re seeing a lot of demand.”

But travel advisor Dowdy, who typically sells a great deal of Caribbean cruise product, said that component of her business hasn’t yet returned to anywhere near normal. 

“I’m seeing that a lot of people are still hesitant to cruise,” Dowdy said. “Some people still have this idea that they’re going to be stuck in a Petri dish onboard a cruise ship.” 

Dowdy was onboard two Caribbean cruises late last fall and another in January, and she said she had a terrific time on all three.  

“I try to tell people I feel safer on a cruise ship than I do going to my local grocery store because I know the person next to me [on a cruise] has tested negative, and if they’re an adult, they’ve had their vaccine,” she explained. “I’m trying, and I’m sure I have swayed some people, but it’s still a hard sell.”