The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association is creating the region’s first dedicated luxury travel show.
President Josef Forstmayr revealed the trade show, which will take place in late September, will demonstrate the Caribbean’s ability to match any destination in the world for upmarket travellers.
He added: “It is the most aspirational area in the world and we want to brand it as such and showcase the high quality of product here.
“What we have here is way ahead of the Middle East, the Seychelles, Mauritius and even the Far East.
“We already have a vast array of luxury with the likes of Sandy Lane in Barbados and Jade Mountain in St Lucia leading the way but much more in the pipeline.”
Forstmayr wants to create better links between the hotels and other organizations operating at the high end of the market and believes a luxury ‘retreat’ as he called it will facilitate this.
The name of the show is not yet decided.
The CHTA is also in the process of creating a fund to rebrand the Caribbean as a single entity and promote it across the world.
Key to the success of the Caribbean, Forstmayr added, is the removal of the layers of bureaucracy which govern people moving around the islands.
He wants it to be far easier and cheaper for people to travel between islands – something which may be possible if Air Jamaica is successful in building the Caribbean network it wants to create.