| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 03/07/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 47 |
| Copyright: Other |
Turks and caicos by Helen Arnold
Top hotels and unspoilt land make islands ever popular
Lack of British charter flight fails to halt rise in visitors
With the number of UK visitors to the Turks and Caicos increasing year on year, operators are confident the islands will continue to attract more holidaymakers despite the failure of a British charter flight to materialise.At present, visitors to the islands, a geographical extension of the Bahamas comprising around 30 cays and islands of which only eight are habitable, have to fly first to Miami and then onto the main island of Providenciales.
Caribbean specialist Harlequin Worldwide spokeswoman said: “A direct charter flight would really open up the islands for us. However, the connections are getting better. People go to the Turks and Caicos for the stunning beaches and the fantastic diving.
“One of the main attractions for divers is you can dive straight from the shore – the seabed slopes off immediately. And during certain seasons, it is possible to see migrating whales,” she added.
Such is the appeal of the Turks and Caicos that Caribtours managing director Catherine Leech reports that demand is outstripping supply.
“The combination of idyllic white beaches on a very sleepy island, but at the same time offering incredibly sophisticated hotels, is the big appeal of Turks and Caicos,” she said.
“We’d love to put in more accommodation but tour operators can barely get a seat on the American Airlines flights from Miami to Provendicales. American Airlines are certainly doing very well out of the situation. We would love to see a quality service introduced, as we generally work with scheduled airlines but if a charter was introduced, then we would certainly look at it very closely.”
Despite the flight restrictions, Caribtours has introduced one new property into its 2001 brochure, Parrot Cay, located on a private island of the same name. “It’s a fashionable five-star spa-type resort and is very chic with incredible service and beautiful oriental-influenced accommodation,” said Leech.
Kuoni’s Caribbean product manager Wendy Kenneally believes that a direct flight to the islands would be a mixed blessing. “Clearly we want to attract more people to the islands and a direct flight would help increase the appeal enormously,” she said. “But on the other hand, a charter flight from the UK would increase the number of visitors and half of the appeal of the Turks and Caicos is the fact that at the moment it’s a relatively undiscovered beauty. But I think it will eventually happen because the interest is there.”
She said the islands are already very popular with Canadian and US visitors in the winter months. “There are a lot of condos being built but I think there is space for development, without the islands becoming too commercialised.”
Kuoni has been featuring the main island of Providenciales in its brochure for three years and reports a huge growth in demand. “It’s a really safe island with not much going on. There is barely any night life outside the hotels and it’s a perfect place just to relax,” said Kenneally.
The beautiful beaches and clear water make it particularly attractive to families. Kuoni’s most popular product is the all-inclusive Sandals Beaches resort which, as well as appealing to families, also attracts single travellers and honeymooners.
The operator also offers three other resorts – the 100 room Comfort Suites on Grace Bay Beach, the all-inclusive Allegro and the Sibonne, an individual owner-managed property.
Complete Caribbean is another operator to report growing interest in holidays in Turks and Caicos and the company has added Parrot Cay to its portfolio for next year.
High demand: people visit Turks and Caicos to make the most of its breath-taking beaches andfantastic diving