The shooting of two British honeymooners in Antigua comes as a shock on an island generally considered to be one of the safest in the Caribbean.

The Caribbean has the capacity to become the leading spa and wellness destination in the world. This assessment has come from Steve Andrews, owner of Soothing Touch Da Spa, who told Barbados Business Authority that the region had unique characteristics that could attract people from all over the world.

By liberalizing healthcare, developed nations will give poorer ones a chance to gain from health tourism and to retain health personnel. As food and oil prices rise all over the world, consumers are getting a crash course in economics: when demand increases, prices shoot up.

With international travelers projected to almost double by 2020, the most significant increases are expected to take place in markets like China, India and destinations in South-East Asia. The Gulf States and emerging Eastern Europe complete this picture, followed by the Latin American and finally African markets.

Expensive jet fuel and a soft American economy are threatening to sink Caribbean tourism as airline ticket prices soar and flights are sharply reduced, choking the flow of the vacationers that many tiny islands depend upon.

The Canadian tourism industry is on the precipice of an unprecedented decline, which could have a massive impact on the 1.6 million Canadians whose jobs depend on this sector, according to a report by Canada’s Tourism Competitiveness.