Expedia: Travel Demand for Caribbean on the Rise

The Expedia group, one of the world's largest online travel companies, reported on Monday that travel demand garnered via the company’s platforms for the Caribbean region grew nearly 30 percent year over year during the first three quarters of 2014.

The company also reports that the Dominican Republic remains the top producing market in the Caribbean, while Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Aruba and The Bahamas follow for the destination on all Expedia platforms.

Caribbean markets with substantial demand growth included the Dominican Republic with nearly 60 percent growth, Jamaica with nearly 40 percent growth and the Turks and Caicos with almost 50 percent growth year over year during the first three quarters of 2014.

New data from Expedia also indicates that the United States remains the key feeder market for the Caribbean with a reported growth of nearly 35 percent to Caribbean destinations.

The Expedia group’s market management team will attend Caribbean Travel Marketplace, the destination’s most influential industry event organized by the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), from January 28-30, 2015 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

During the conference, the company’s market management team will be available to discuss trends and new technology tools and marketing capabilities designed to provide increased visibility and incremental demand for hotel partners. Moreover, the team is expected to share recent successes while also meeting with valued hotel partners and reinforcing the company’s commitment to the region.

“The Caribbean is an important, growing market for Expedia group with more than 1,700 hotel partners currently in the region, and more than 600 new partnerships in 2014 alone,” said Demetrius Canton, director of lodging partner services for the Caribbean, the Expedia group. “We are focusing more than ever on how we can support our hotel partners to drive demand, which can be seen in our overhaul of Expedia PartnerCentral, the suite of tools our hotel partners use to interact with our sites, and through the opening of our local offices in the Dominican Republic, our first in the Caribbean."

Source: Caribbean News Now