Caribbean ready for a sunny tourist season

The peak winter tourist season is under way in the Caribbean, and prospects for business are sunny this year. A strong euro and pound sterling are encouraging visits by Europeans, while a better economy in the U.S has Americans traveling more, according to an assessment by the Sun Sentinel of Orlando.

Air service to the islands is up too, surpassing levels before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, executives said. Furthermore, few hotels remain out of service after the harsh 2004 hurricane season, with tens of thousands of rooms still welcoming winter guests across the island chain.

It all adds up to bright news for the Caribbean, the world´s most tourism-dependent region, where nearly one in four residents works in tourism.

The promising season is opening after a very good year in 2004 when

tourist arrivals to 32 Caribbean destinations reached 21.6 million, up six percent over 2003. Cruise passenger visits grew an estimated 12 percent to just over 20 million, according to the Caribbean Tourism Organization.

In the wake of similarly rapid growth in 2003, this performance provides clear testimony to a robust return to growth for the tourism industry in the region after the worldwide downturn in tourist travel which followed the 9/11 attacks in the US, observed Karen Ford-Warner, CTO´s acting secretary general.