TTC ITB 2013

The World Tourism organization (WTo) forecasts that international tourist arrivals will grow between 3% and 4% in 2013, which fits in well with its prediction until 2030: a mean annu-al +3.8% between 2010 and 2020. By re-

gions, the best perspectives for 2013 are for Asia and the Pacific (between +5% and +6%), followed by Africa (+4% and +6%), the Americas (+3% to 4%), europe (+2% to +3%) and the Middle east (0% to +5%). 2

International Tourism to Maintain Strong Growth in 2013

Fire Fest Dedicated to Colombian Caribbean 6Caribbean Culture Events 10Caribbean’s Cultural Product Favors Intercultural Dialogue 18

Cuba at ITB 2013. Cuba is present at ITB 2013 at stand 209, Pavilion 3, decorated with images of the Authentic Cuba Campaign. The German market is extremely important for Cuban tourism. In 2012 a total of 108,712 Germans visited the island, 14.3% more than in 2011. It was the third issuing market of foreign visitors to the destination, after Canada and the United Kingdom. 2

CTO Recommends a Caribbean Single Visa Regime

The CArIBBeAn Tourism or-ganization (CTo) Aviation Task Force has recommended a review of visa regimes in member coun-tries in order to improve the visi-tor experience.

The CTo Aviation Task Force is a highly focused committee es-tablished to facilitate air trans-portation into and throughout the Caribbean and to enhance airlift. It is to recommend to its member-ship a system similar to europe’s Schengen visa program, where vis-itors who are cleared at the initial port of entry can continue travel-ling seamlessly throughout most of the european Union.

The decision came out of a re-cent meeting of the CTo Avia-tion Task Force held in St John’s, Antigua, to review issues affect-ing intra-regional travel and make recommendations for increasing consumer demand. ■

The economic crisis that has characterized the european climate in recent years has also been felt in Ger-many, although the Germans do not aim

to renounce their va-cations. The German market continues be-ing the most impor-tant issuing market of the european conti-nent. 4

Caribbean Islands a Tourist Destination for German Market

Poste italiane Spa - Sped. in Abb. Post. D.L. 353/2003 Conv. in L. 27/02/2004, no. 46 Art. 1 comma 1, DCB Milano - Prezzo per copia EURO 0,25

Year XIII • Issue 218 • March 2013 • Regular Edition • www.traveltradecaribbean.com • ISSN 1724 - 5370

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2 TRAVEL TRADE CARIBBEAN • YEAR XIII • ISSUE 218 • MARCH 2013

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values Spanish invest-

ments, and the Meliá

chain, which in two de-

cades has accumulated

25 establishments in

the Caribbean nation,

is there to prove it.

tínez Iglesias, Cuban depu-

ty Minister of Tourism, an-

nounced.

During the last 33rd

Madrid International Tour-

ism Fair (FITUR), Martínez

stated that Cuba highly

Spanish Investments in Cuban Tourism

SeveRal Spanish hotel

chains plan to invest

in Cuba in 2013, a year

in which four projects

will be concretized

with companies from

Spain, Xiomara Mar-

Continued from front page—WTo Secretary General Taleb rifai affirmed that the sector has demonstrat-ed its ability to adapt to the market’s changing condi-tions and, although at a slightly more modest pace, it is expected it will continue expanding in 2013.

International tourist arrivals grew 4% in 2012, ac-cording to the WTo Barometer of World Tourism. With 39 million more international tourists as com-

pared to the 996 million in 2011, in 2012 the arrivals surpassed a billion (1.035 billion) for the first time in history. The emerging economies (+4.1%) again were ahead of the advanced (+3.6%).

The Asia and Pacific region (+7%) had the best performance, while, by subregions, Southeast Asia, north Africa (both with +9%) and Central and east-ern europe (+8%) headed the ranking. ■

International Tourism to Maintain Strong Growth in 2013

8-14, in Cayo largo. ▶ IMASUB, in María la Gorda,

June 10-16. ▶ ernest hemingway Interna-

tional Marlin Fishing Tourna-ment, June 3-7, and the Jardines del rey Fishing Tournament, in october.

▶ nature Tourism event, Sep-tember 24-28.

▶ The most important event of the Cuban tourist industry… FITCuba 2013, already with 33 years of experience, will be held May 7-10 in Varadero, dedicat-ed to the Sun and Beach prod-uct and with Brazil as its guest country. ■

Moreover, at ITB Cuba aims to highlight among the participants the messages and supports of the current destination campaign Authentic Cuba and promote the principal events to be held in Cu-ba in 2013:

▶ Varadero Gourmet Interna-tional Festival, April 10-12, and the event Saborear lo cubano (Savoring the Cuban), both with the aim of perpetuating Cuban culinary culture.

▶ Montecristo Golf Cup Tourna-ment, April 25-27.

▶ Underwater Activities World Championship (CMAS), April

Cuban delegation will emphasize the modality of nautical tourism.

Continued from front page—The principal objectives of Cuba’s par-ticipation in ITB 2013 are geared at strengthening the ties with the most important German partners for tourist operations from the market to Cuba, as well as exhib-iting the wealth and variety of the Cuban tourist product, especially Sun and Beach as the star product, in addition to others of notable quality like Combinations, Cir-cuits, nautical, events and Incen-tives, Youth Tourism, Weddings and honeymoons, historic-Cul-tural and nature Tourism.

The presence of the Caribbean island will be emphasized in the specialized nautical tourism (scu-ba diving, fishing, life on board and other modalities), given the importance of the goal sector of the product in the market, while updating the participants on the potentials of havana, Varadero, the Keys, holguín and the center of Cuba as the principal regions for the German market.

Cuba atITB 2013


• Dominican Republic• Cuba

GErMaNy’S ParTICIPaTIoN IN ToTal arrIvalS To CuBa aND THE DoMINICaN rEPuBlIC

In the opinion of experts, cruise vacations, trips to Turkey and mid-distance leisure travel have marked the trends of these recent years.

For the Caribbean islands, German tour-ism ranked one of the first places for the two principal Caribbean destinations. For the do-minican republic, which received a bit over 450,000 Germans in 2000, it decreased to less than 250,000 in 2002. The participation rate in the total arrivals decreased from 14% in 2000 to less than 4% in 2012, while for Cuba, during that same period it decreased from 11.5% to less than 4%.

It would be necessary to study what has been the participation of the marketing agents or the publicity and promotion campaigns in this performance of the market; and perhaps try to find an answer to the question: Is the Caribbean’s tourist offer and its promotional image coherent with the interests and motiva-tions of the current German traveler? ■

like in several world issuing markets, the trends of the tourist flows will be increasingly influenced by the migratory flows. In the case of Germany, the growth in trips to Turkey is due fundamentally to a unique process in the social development of the German nation in recent decades.

In that sense it must be taken into ac-count that 3.7% of Germany’s population is of Muslim origin, of which approximately 80% are Turks. The number of Turks sur-passes the total of foreigners from the euro-pean Union.

Germany is Turkey’s principal trade part-ner. This scenario favors that, together with the nation’s economic recovery and growth, there is a tourist flow toward countries of the origin of the immigrants who have achieved a certain level of income that allows them to make business trips and to take holidays, gen-erally short ones.

• Dominican Republic• Cuba

arrIval of GErMaNS To CuBa aND THE DoMINICaN rEPuBlIC

■■ Dr.■Jos■Luis■Perell■Doctor in Economic Science, Master in Tourism Management, Professor of the Faculty of Tourism, University of Havana. Consultant for National Chamber of Tourism of Honduras (CANATURH) and Havana International Center (CIH)

Germans are flexible tourists, who can venture traveling at any time, who are not linked to any tour operator and who

only use travel agencies when they consider it indispensable. Thinking about money and not about time can change the world of tourism in upcoming years. To this it will be necessary to add the fact that demographic projections in-dicate that starting 2010 the German popula-tion started decreasing and the population ag-ing phenomenon will become deeper, given that the age groups of 50 years and more will be the only ones to increase and potentially will be the most interested in traveling.

These trends globally influence the fact that the Germans continue traveling in a stable way, but holidays are increasingly shorter. In this scenario the low-cost airlines are gaining a position in the face of the service offered on charter and regular airlines. The consequenc-es will be the changes in the market quotas among travelers of organized packages and of individual trips.

The price is increasingly an important fac-tor when it comes to deciding on one or the other destination. Vacations in the Caribbean cost on average almost double those in Turkey or Croatia and triple the ones in Germany it-self. This difference is simply understood be-cause a long-distance trip generally lasts lon-ger and this leads to its final increase in price.

This scenario forces the Caribbean destina-tions to recognize Germany’s relevance as one of the biggest european issuing markets by 2020, according to the WTo’s forecasts, and the challenge that this represents for the plan-ning and promotion of tourism seeking a re-positioning within the most important world markets in terms of number of tourists and spending. German tourists not only are one of the groups that travel the most internationally, but they also represent an important spending, only after those from the United States.

Caribbean Islands a Tourist Destination for German Market


www.islazul.cu

The Islazul Hotel Group, pres-ent throughout the Cuban archi-pelago, is becoming reasserted as one of the hotel chains with the widest coverage and diversi-ty throughout Cuba.

HoTEl BElla HaBaNa aEroPuErToAlso located in nuevo Vedado, along Avenida Boyeros, this hotel has 84 rooms, a restaurant, cafeteria, shop, beauty parlor, post office and meeting room.

HoTEl TulIPáNIt is in the heart of the neighborhood of nuevo Vedado and is excellent for relaxing and rest-ing because of its welcoming atmosphere and spacious gardens. With 326 rooms, it also has a restaurant, cafeteria, shop, party rooms and meeting room.

HoTEl PaSEo HaBaNalocated a few steps away from Paseo Avenue, in el Vedado, this hotel is central and at the same time private. It has 30 rooms with AC, private bathroom, satellite TV, telephone and safety deposit box. Four of the rooms are designed for the handicapped. It also has a restaurant, cafeteria, shop, cybercafé and meeting room.

Green Globe Announces Certification of True Blue Bay ResortGReen Globe certifies Grenada’s True Blue Bay

Resort because the Caribbean boutique hotel

“has taken a proactive role in preserving and

protecting its untouched natural surroundings”,

the environmental organization informed.

“We are very proud to receive this prestigious

recognition from Green Globe Certification,”

said Russ Fielden, Owner of the True Blue Bay

Resort, “Our management and staff have been

working hard to come up with innovative ideas

to help keeping the environment clean and play

a beneficial role in Grenadian society. a beach

clean-up was just recently accomplished by our

staff and friends, who collected over 17 large

bags of garbage on a nearby beach. We will con-

tinue to improve our environmental efforts, pro-

moting awareness and sustainable practices on

all possible levels.”

a long-term sustainability management sys-

tem is in effect at the True Blue Bay Resort, and

a dedicated Green Team monitors the progress

of green measures, shaping and realizing envi-

ronmental goals set by the property. Over the

past year the resort has experimented with solar

lights, and “True Green Rooms,” which will virtu-

ally use no electricity and be powered by solar

energy, are currently being planned.

Green Globe Certification is the worldwide

sustainability system based on internationally-

accepted criteria for sustainable operation and

management of travel and tourism businesses.

Operating under a worldwide license, Green

Globe Certification is based in California, USa,

and is represented in over 83 countries.

al Prize to Colombian singer Sonia Bazan-ta, popularly known as Totó, la Monpo-sina, who has con-firmed her presence. The José María he-redia Plaque will also be given to her com-patriot, scholar César Pagano.

At the close of this issue, participants

from Cuba as well as Argentina, Venezuela, Mexico, Curaçao, the United States, Suriname and, of course, Colombia –from which a large delegation is expected– had confirmed their intention to attend. The number of foreign guests is estimated at around 800.

Spaces like The Caribbean that Unites Us Colloquium, the Serpent Parade and the Burn-ing of the Devil will form part of the 2013 Ca-ribbean Festival, an excellent occasion to hon-or the region’s popular cultures. ■

Dedicated to the cultural tradi-tions of the Co-

lombian Caribbean, the 33rd Caribbean Festival or Fire Fest will be held July 3-9 in its usual venue of Santiago de Cuba.

The Colombian Ca-ribbean is of great im-portance for Carib-bean culture because of the value of its traditions, customs and re-ligious practices. The Fire Fest will pay tribute to the cultural diversity of Barranquilla, Cart-agena and Santa Marta, regions that make up that area.

The cumbia, that alluring melodic style that intertwines African and indigenous rhythms, and the vallenato, considered Colombia’s most popular musical genre, will be heard.

The Festival will become a propitious occa-sion to award the Casa del Caribe Internation-

Caribbean and latin american cultures will be repre-

sented at the festival.

The 33rd Caribbean festival or fire fest will be held July 3-9 in its usual venue of Santiago de Cuba.

Fire Fest Dedicated to Colombian Caribbean


fessional 18-hole course that should

be inaugurated in 2013; and the

third, to the Mayakoba complex –it

is expected that during the current

year its second course will be reac-

tivated.

In the last five years, the northern

area of Quintana Roo increased from

5 to 14 its golf course offers with an

average investment of between 10

and 15 million dollars each.

to the Puerto Aventuras residential tour-

ist development –it plans to build this

year a nine-hole course; another to the

Puerto Cancun– about to conclude a pro-

Three Golf Courses to be Built in Quintana Roo

The MeXICan Caribbean will give a

strong boost in 2013 to golf tourism

in Cancun and the Riviera Maya, with

three new courses to be inaugurat-

ed or start being designed this same

year, which will combine hotel infra-

structure with installations for that

segment, according to a report by

the daily el economista.

The three new projects to the

north of Quintana Roo are: one linked

The Turks and Caicos joins an illustrious group of other fami-ly-friendly destinations includ-ing Amelia Island, Fl., Montreal, Park City, UT., San diego, CA. and Alaska Cruises. In the region only the Bahamas was included in the top ten listing. ■

onCe again the Turks & Caicos Islands has garnered internation-al recognition by being named in the top ten family vacation desti-nations for 2013 by Family Vaca-tion Critic.

The family planning guide is a comprehensive online travel re-source for families that offers re-views of family hotels, resorts and destinations. The site which fea-tures vacation ideas, family travel tips and an online forum for fam-ily travelers says that families kick off the new Year by starting their vacation planning and reports that January is the peak month for family-vacation related searches.

Turks & Caicos named Top Ten Family Vacation Destination for 2013

Caribbean Development Bank Forecasts Another Slow Year for TourismThe InTernATIonAl situation will not favor tourism this year either, according to analysts. Bad news for the Caribbean and it was given by the development Bank: 2013 will not bring growth to a sector that is the principal source of income of the majority of the Caribbean countries.

William Warren Smith, president of the Caribbean develop-ment Bank, said that the economic problems, the high unemploy-ment rate and the strong fiscal adjustments in europe and the United States, the principal issuing markets for the Caribbean, will not allow the recovery of tourism in the region.

Smith warned that only haiti and Guyana showed increases in their GdPs of more than 5%; the rest of the nations did not sur-pass the 1-2% growth. ■

The AVerAGe hotel occupancy rate in the dominican republic closed 2012 with a 1.5% increase as compared to the previous year, a growth that was driven by the strong dy-namism experienced in the area of Punta Cana-Bávaro and romana-Bayahibe, which at the end of 2012 registered rates of 77.4% and 75.7%, for a growth of 1.4% and 0.5%, re-spectively. This was reported by the bulletin

of tourist statistics of the Association of ho-tels and Tourism of the dominican republic (ASonAhoreS).

The city of Puerto Plata increased by 5.0%, going from 53.4% in 2011 to 56.0% in 2012, due to the improvement in services offered. Boca Chica-Juan dolio maintained its operations in 2012 at 62.8% and in 2011 at 60.3%, for a positive balance of 2.6%.

Santiago de los Caballeros registered an average rate of 54.3% that, compared to the estimated 53.3% in 2011, represents a 1.9% growth. The province of Samaná and Sosua-Cabarete decreased in their occupancy levels by 0.5% and 6.7%, respectively. In Santo do-mingo, hotel activity decreased by 4.9%, go-ing from 60.3% in 2011 to 57.3% at the close of 2012. ■

Dominican Republic Closes 2012 with +1.5% in Hotel Occupancy

9TRAVEL TRADE CARIBBEAN • YEAR XIII • ISSUE 218 • MARCH 2013

Costa Rica Assumes Pro Tempore Presidency of Central American Tourism Council

COSTa Rica assumed the pro tem-

pore presidency of the Central

american Tourism Council. The

transference of the presidency

took place during the lXXXvII Reg-

ular Meeting of the Central ameri-

can Tourism Council (CCT) by nica-

raguan Minister of Tourism Mario

Salinas Pasos to Costa Rican Min-

ister of Tourism allan Flores.

Minister allan Flores has been

acting as pro tempore president

of the CCT since January 2013 for

the period of six months. Flores

presented his six-month work plan

to be carried out by the Council

through the Secretariat of Cen-

tral american Tourist Integration

(SITCa) –the source of this infor-

mation– with the support of the

Central american Federation of

Chambers of Tourism (FeDeCaTUR).

CoSTA ricans and Panamani-ans won’t need a passport to cross the border between both coun-tries, Costa rican President lau-ra Chinchilla an-nounced during the welcome cer-emony for the torch of the Cen-tral American Sports Games, at the bordering city of Paso Canoas.

“We have to set an example of unity by elimi-nating the pass-port for Costa ricans and Pan-amanians so that in this way we can consolidate rela-tions between the two countries,” the president said.

Chinchilla commented that Costa ricans as well as Panama-nians want to increase commercial relations between both nations and

that the elimination of the pass-port would expedite the flow of visitors between the two countries.

“Panama’s economy has a very important growth in lat-in America, we want Panamani-ans to visit Cos-ta rica, that they buy our products and they come as tourists, and they also want to visit and increase commercial re-lations with the Costa ricans,” she said.

Chinchilla an-nounced that the first to benefit from the elimi-

nation of passports would be peo-ple of the areas close to the com-mon border and that later the exemption would be extended to the nationals of both countries. ■

We have to set an

example of unity by

eliminating the pass-

port for Costa Ricans

and Panamanians so

that in this way we

can consolidate re-

lations between the

two countries.”

laura Chinchilla, President of Costa rica.

Costa Ricans and Panamanians Won’t Need Visas for Mutual Visits


first time in 1972 in Guyana and held in a different country each time. Inspired in the Caribbean Festival of the Arts (Puerto rico, 1952), it is already in its 11th edi-tion and will be held this year in Suriname August 16-23, after four years not being held. during the Summit of CArICoM heads of State and of Government, haiti expressed the wish to be the venue in 2015.

Many international festivals are held in Cuba, like the Ca-ribbean Festival (Fire Fiesta), in Santiago de Cuba, dedicated to a certain country each year, which brings together thousands of par-ticipants to share the best of the culture of the Caribbean nations –in 2013 it will be held July 3-9; the romerías de Mayo, in holguín, which will be celebrating its 20th edition; and the new latin Amer-ican Film Festival which in de-cember brings together in havana the region’s best cinema.

In Cayman Islands its Prate Week stands out, held every no-vember: 11 days of music, dance, competitions, games, parades and fireworks.

Few things can be more do-minican than the merengue and this is why in July the Festival of the Merengue is held in Santo do-mingo; a contagious rhythm that those days is heard in all the cor-ners of the country, at any time of the day.

Aruba is renowned as one of the destinations for windsurfing aficionados, thus the island’s most important competition is a grand fiesta in July; the fun begins at the beach when the aficionados gath-er to see the sports events.

Puerto rico has a rich Afri-can tradition and where it is most seen is in the city of loíza, which every July celebrates the Santia-go Apóstol Festival, the fruit of religious syncretism. It includes street fiestas, open-air concerts and carnival parades, generally for a week.

They are these and many more, but all of them are events proper of Caribbean culture, which at-tract visitors and join peoples while generating benefits for the culture and the economies of these countries. ■

be practically impossible to bring together in just one text all the fes-tivals, carnivals or popular fiestas that are organized in the region; just to mention some of the best known, still not daring to make an assessment of which are the most important.

one of the most emblematic is CArIFeSTA, Caribbean Festi-val of the Arts, carried out for the

political or government meetings and, therefore, a process of at-tracting venues or sports compe-titions or cultural festivals are not included.

And the cultural festivals are precisely one of the largest and most important manifestations in the Caribbean and in many cases are a reason to travel for the tour-ists who visit our islands. It would

■■ Regino■M.■Cruz■Events planner. Was the executive secretary of the Latin American and Caribbean Association of Conventions Bureaus (LatinCaribeBureau) and its vice president from 2000 until its disappearance in 2002

The International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), with more than 900

members in 87 countries, inclu-des in its statistics of internation-al events only those that comply with the requirements: rotating through at least three countries, having more than 50 partici-pants and Being periodically or-ganized.

In the 2011 figures the Caribbe-an islands1 are taken into account, although only four countries –Ja-maica, Cuba, dominican repub-lic and Puerto rico– appear in the ICCA ranking since the rest have four or less international meet-ings.

recent years’ events present trends from which latin America and the Caribbean do not escape, like the decrease in the average number of participants –the one for this region is the lowest in the world sphere– as well as the re-duction of their duration, a result of the changes caused by the crisis that affects a significant number of nations.

Another aspect that shows great force is the tendency to carry out meetings in hotels with halls and facilities: in the region they represent 66.5% as compared to 13.6% in convention centers and 15.6% in universities.

But many events are held in the Caribbean that are not considered by the ICCA –the organization only takes into account the meet-ings of international associations, it does not include corporative,

1 Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Baha-

mas, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Gre-

nada, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Cayman Is-

lands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Virgin

Islands, Jamaica, Martinique, Puerto

Rico, Dominican Republic, Saint Kitts-

Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grena-

dines, Saint Lucia and Trinidad and

Tobago. Source: ICCA Statistic Report

2002-2011.

Caribbean Culture Events


Quintana Roo Pursues Surpassing 17 Million VisitorsThe ACTIonS taken by Quintana roo to surpass in 2013 the 17 million visitors it had in 2012 includes the launching of the Soy Quintana Roo (I Am Quintana roo) publicity campaign. Mainly filmed in locations of Chetumal, Bacalar, Isla Mujeres, Cancun, Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Cozumel, Tulum, Muyil, Chumpón, Maja-hual and Playa del Carmen, this campaign will promote the state’s tourist destinations and sites of interest.

Quintana roo has almost 900 hotels with approximately 85,000 rooms and an infrastructure that is sufficient for conven-tions tourism.

Germans an Important Market for Riviera MayaGerMAnS are an important market for the riviera Maya since Playa del Carmen began as a vacation tourist destination more than 20 years ago, and the majority of them prefer to stay in small hotels, Jamil elías hindi, president of that destination’s Associa-tion of Small hotels, commented.

hindi added that, starting 2009, the German market began re-covering… tourists also interested in cultural activities, not just enjoying the sun and beaches.

At the Berlin International Tourism Fair (ITB) the riviera Maya hoteliers have programmed meetings with travel agencies and tour operators to agree on or renew new commercial alliances for this year.

The general occupancy rate was 74.97%, as compared to 72.75% in 2011; this is a growth of 2.22%. The year 2012 concluded with a total of 10,989,796 over-night stays, 7.77% more than 2011. The increase in hotel occupancy was accompanied by an increase in average rate, which in 2011 was 2,194 pesos and last year was 2,443 pesos.

The riviera Maya is Mexico’s most successful tourist destina-tion. It has the largest number of rooms, only after Mexico City, and the annual occupancy rate of this vacation destination in the Mexican Caribbean is the highest in the country. ■

different countries of the region. From the rest of the world, 26,455 holidaymakers arrived, represent-ing 0.86% of the total of foreigners.

South American tourism went from having a participation of 4.75% in 2011 to 6.64% in 2012, with 203,538 tourists from the

The rIVIerA Maya closed 2012 with 3,895,548 tourists, 7.9% more than the previous year, when 3,610,367 visitors were received, according to the department of Statistics of the riviera Maya’s Tourist Promotion Administra-tion.

The national market saw a 19.44% growth as compared to 2011, while foreign tourism regis-tered a 5.15% increase. U.S. tour-ism continued to predominate in the foreign market, with 1,201,959 visitors, which is equal to 39.21%, followed by europe, with 935,861 travelers (30.53%). Canada ranked third with 697,875 visitors, 22.76% of the grand total.

Riviera Maya Receives Almost Four Million Tourists

rosalinda Thomas, Messe Berlin represen-tative for the dominican republic and the Ca-ribbean, said that the dominican republic is one of the principal destinations in the Ger-man market, in addition to highlighting the importance of the country’s participation ev-ery year in ITB Berlin, whose 2013 edition it is attending with a stand of some 400 m2. ■

suing country of tourists, attracted in their majority by the sun and beach offer in addi-tion to cruises.

Bruns highlighted that the commercial exchange between both countries stands at US$250 million a year; mainly agricultural products, especially machinery, are exported to Germany.

In A MeeTInG with the press held in the dominican-German Chamber of Com-merce, Industry and Tourism, the ambas-sador of the Federal republic of Germany in the dominican republic, Thomas Bruns, reported that between 200,000 and 300,000 Germans arrive every year to the Caribbe-an country, placing Germany as the fifth is-

Germany is Dominican Republic’s Fifth Tourist Market

from left, arturo villanueva, executive vice-president asonahores; Isabel vásquez, Ministry of Tourism Promotion Director; fausto fernández, Deputy Minister of Tour-

ism; Thomas Bruns, ambassador of Germany in the Dominican republic, and rosalinda Thomas, ITB representative for the Dominican republic and the Caribbean.


Caribbean Destinations Connected with GermanyIMPorTAnT Caribbean destinations are connected with Germany, directly or through connections, in which the tour-ist season has a great incidence.

Using as sources the websites of the principal German air companies, Air Berlin stands out for the diversity of routes, with direct flights to Cuba on the Varadero-Berlin route until April 30, starting which it will operate with connections. This airline includes in its portfolio three destinations in the do-minican republic –la romana/Casa de Campo, Punta Cana and Puerto Pla-ta; Freeport and nassau in the Baha-mas; Bridgetown in Barbados; Cancun in Mexico; San Juan in Puerto rico; and Curaçao.

Meanwhile, Condor offers flights to the dominican republic –Puerto Plata, Santo domingo and Punta Cana; Cuba– havana, Varadero and holguín; Mexico (Cancun), Jamaica (Montego Bay), Puer-to rico (San Juan), Costa rica (San José), Trinidad and Tobago (Tobago), Antigua and Barbuda and Saint lucia. In the Ba-hamas its portfolio takes into consider-ation the airports in Freeport, Treasure Cay, nassau, rock Sound, Georgetown, Governors harbour and Marsh harbour.

Sources: www.guialineasaereas.com www.condor.com www.airberlin.com

air Berlin stands out for the diversity of routes.

SeABorne Airlines, the region-al air carrier based in Saint Croix, Virgin Islands, announced a new direct service from Puerto rico’s luis Muñoz International Airport to three new airports in the Carib-bean: Melville hall, in dominica; Aimé Césaire, in Forte-de-France, Martinique; and Pointe-a-Pitre, in Guadeloupe.

The three routes, which will kick off next April 1, will be flown with a 34-seat turboprop Saab air-craft, which operates with two pi-lots, a flight attendant, cabin ser-vice and bathroom. By adding these three routes, Seaborne will operate more than 625 weekly de-partures from San Juan to eight stations. ■

Three New Air Routes from San Juan to Caribbean Announced

some 403,200 Cana-dian visitors stayed in Jamaica compared to some 378,900 that vis-ited during the same period in 2011. ■

down 16.3% and 2.9%, respectively. Cana-da's growth, howev-er, waned a bit from its previous double-digit growth. In 2012,

The bulk of last year's increase came from cruise passen-ger growth, up 17%, mainly due to the newest port in Tre-lawny, the Falmouth Cruise Pier, built over a year ago. Total visi-tors by sea amounted to 1.34 million.

Geographically, a rise in Canadian and US visitors balanced the decline in Unit-ed Kingdom/europe,

A MonThlY sta-tistical report pub-lished by the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) said arrivals to the Caribbean island by air and sea hit a re-cord 3.3 million in 2012, up 7.4% year-on-year. According to the released tour-ism data, arrivals in 2011 amounted to 3.07 million. Tourist visits also hit the three mil-lion mark in 2006.

Jamaica: Arrivals by Air and Sea Hit a Record

Representatives of agencies devoted to promoting sustainable tourism in the re-gion of the Greater Caribbean, coordi-

nated in nicaragua a common agenda in favor of the Caribbean Basin seeking, in the short term, to have a certification of sustainability and quality.

“our objective is to have an area of sustain-able tourism,” Mario Salinas, president of the nicaraguan Institute of Tourism, said when inaugurating the meeting. he recalled that international estimates reveal that the annu-

al figure of tourists in the world amounts to almost a billion, and this presents the need to assume the concepts of sustainability in an in-dustry that could destroy the natural, cultural and human resources it uses.

he called for paying attention to these nega-tive aspects it creates, like any other activity, to the detriment of the environment.

With this meeting the Sustainable Tourism Committee of the Association of Caribbean States sought to fine tune its sustainable tour-ism strategies in the region. ■

Greater Caribbean in Favor of Sustainable Tourism


ToBAGo is expecting an in-crease in tourist arrivals in 2013, Secretary of Tourism and Trans-portation Tracy davidson-Celes-tine says.

“There has been an increase of over 60% in bookings for the year to date when compared to the cor-responding period last year”, Ce-lestine added in an interview. She said the increase was due to the “Tobago Go Go” campaign which

started three years ago to facilitate late winter bookings from visi-tors in Scandinavia and the Unit-ed Kingdom.Travelers from those markets were being offered up to £100 off packaged holidays to To-bago for at least a seven-night stay.

“By the end of the season in April we are expecting Tobago to receive over 35,000 passengers, an increase of more than 2,000 over the 2011/2012 season,” she said. ■

Tobago Tourist Arrivals Boost

dedICATed to Sun and Beach, Varadero, Cuba’s leading destina-tion for this product, will host the 33rd International Tourism Fair (FITCuba 2013), from May 7 to 10. The Plaza América fairgrounds will be the venue of the principal activities of the major professional tourism event on the island.

More than 70% of the Cuban hotels are associated to Sun and Beach tourism, which attracted 77.7% of the income from tourism in the first semester of 2012 (the latest available official statistics at the close of this edition). Varadero especially contributed 61.3% of the income in Cuba for this modality.

The guest country in this edition will be Brazil, one of the emerging markets with the greatest growth. It closed 2012 with 16,174 visitors to the island, +11.5% compared to the same period in 2011.

The Cuban tourism ministry made Brazil the country of honor dur-ing the FITCuba 2013 as part of an effort to increase tourism from the South American country. recently, Cuban tourism officials met with Brazilian diplomats at the embassy in havana to analyze a short-term plan to increase the number of Brazilian visitors and talk about Brazil-ian participation in the fair. The number of visitors from Argentina, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Colombia to Cuba has multiplied over the past few years, but the number of tourists from economically booming Brazil has remained small.

FITCuba 2013’s official transportation companies are Transtur (on land) and Cubana Airlines, and the travel agency is Cubatur. ■

www.fitcuba.com

FITCuba 2013’s Latest News


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zations of the Recreational Scuba Train-

ing Council (RSTC) and have an updated

medical aptitude record.

accommodations in the area are in

villa María la Gorda in Plan aP (Com-

plete boarding: accommodation, break-

fast, lunch and supper). Six immersions

are included (one for reconnaissance,

four for competition and a free option-

al). The immersions include: vessel, bot-

tles, ballast and instructor.

Thirteen prizes are awarded: three

first prizes per category and a Grand

Prize for the photographer with the

most points. The Grand Prize will re-

ceive a trophy and a three-night stay

at María la Gorda for two persons in a

regimen of half board and with five im-

mersions.

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

ing categories. There isn’t a registration

quota and participants must be certified

as scuba divers of the member organi-

The GUanahaCaBIBeS national Park, es-

pecially the María la Gorda International

Scuba Diving Center, to the west of Cuba,

is the scenario for the 3rd Underwater

Photography Meeting (IMaSUB 2013),

from June 10 to 16, which can be attended

by underwater photographers worldwide.

The morphology of the Guanaha-

cabibes Park’s seabed shows an enchant-

ing landscape, with extensive white

sands where reefs, round hills, walls,

caves, caverns and tunnels can be appre-

ciated. Its marine fauna includes barra-

cudas, parrot fish, lobsters, moray eels,

gorgonias, among other species. Partic-

ularly attractive are the walls covered in

colonies of black coral.

This seabed is ideal for underwater

photography because of the transparen-

cy of its waters that enables a visibility

of a distance of up to 30 meters and a

depth of 25 and 30 meters.

Fauna, Macro, environment and at-

mosphere with model are the contest-

reforms, renovated furniture in the lobby, new All-Inclusive services, like ice cream parlor and coffee shop.

located by the seashore, next to the dolphinarium and the Mari-na Chapelín, it offers clients the courtesy bus service to the center of Varadero.

It has 316 rooms distributed in 10 bungalow-style buildings, sur-rounded by gardens and streams. A large swimming pool with aqua bar, pool for children, tennis court, four a la carte restaurants and a buffet, a broad animation program with nighttime activities and shows, are some of its facilities.

The hotel chain’s intentions include giving a boost to client satis-faction and positioning the roc Arenas doradas among the best in Varadero, on the most important international opinion websites. ■

Roc hotels has recently purchased hoteles C, a hotel chain that manages hotels in Cuba. In this way the roc hotels company, based in Palma de Mallorca, is expanding its international port-

folio in 2013 to 18 hotels –eight in Mallorca, three in Menorca, three in Torremolinos, one in Almería and three in Cuba– a figure that places it close to the project to reach the 20 establishments in 2015.

roc hotels will implant its brand on the three hotels in Cuba –it will give them its personality and experience–, which will be called roc Presidente****, in havana, and, in Varadero, roc Arenas doradas**** and roc Barlovento****.

The roc Arenas doradas especially enjoys a new image not just be-cause of the new brand but also the reforms carried out during the last season… new paths between the gardens that lead to the beach, room

Roc Arenas Doradas Has New Image


Traveling to the Caribbean is Bouncing Back to Pre-recession LevelsCaRIBBean Tourism Organization (CTO) re-

ports that the number of people traveling to

the Caribbean is bouncing back to pre-reces-

sion levels.

according to the regional organization, visi-

tors from Canada and the U.S. are giving a boost

to a region struggling to recover from a global

economic crisis. The Dutch Caribbean islands re-

ported a 5.6% increase in visitor arrivals from

2011. The most popular islands were Curaçao

and aruba.

about 25 million tourists visited the Caribbe-

an last year, a more than 5% increase from 2011.

It’s a growth rate that outpaced the rest of the

world, which saw arrivals increase by 4%, said

Beverly nicholson-Doty, chairwoman of the Bar-

bados-based CTO.

The bulk of tourists visiting the Caribbean

come from the U.S., a number that increased by

more than 4% last year, on par with pre-reces-

sion levels five years ago. Canada also remained

one of the Caribbean’s largest markets, with

tourists from that country increasing by nearly

6% t in 2012.

GrenAdA is investing a US$375,000 grant from CArTfund, administered by Caribbean development Bank, to expand and develop the country’s marine and yachting, a report of the expert Vicky Karantzavelou said in In-ternet.

According to Anita Sutton, President of Grenada’s Marine and Yachting Association, the island “as a yachting destination is one of the best kept secrets of the Caribbean and it is

time for the secret to be revealed,” explained Sutton.

Grenada is investing in a range of other im-provements to the sector. These include the training and certification of its yacht mainte-nance and technical staff, a security protocol to ensure that Grenada remains the Caribbean’s safest yachting destination, and steps to stream-line the clearance requirements for yachts trav-elling between Grenada and St. Vincent. ■

Grenada Invest in Yachting Sector


distanced from the pre-estab-lished and standardized forms, to give way to a more autochthonous mix that allows visitors to pleas-antly have access to the receiving country’s cultural codes.

due to its geographical disper-sion and cultural diversity, the Caribbean can promote attrac-tive cultural corridors, like in the manner proposed by Costa rica about the culture of the African descendants; or thematic, for ex-ample, of the religious architec-ture during the conquest-coloni-zation period, of popular crafts or of its gastronomic delights.

The cultural road shows as par-ticipation itineraries are another interesting option, for example the parrandas, popular-tradition-al fiestas or carnivals, which can converge in mayor festivals like the Fire Fiesta or Carifesta.

The historic recreation pro-grams in the style of Puerto ri-co’s Batallones de “Cazadores Pa-tria” and “Alfonso XIII” (Patria and Alfonso XIII Fighter Battal-ions), which dramatize the Span-ish-American war; or Cuba’s Ceremonia del Cañonazo (Can-non-Blast Ceremony), which re-vives a custom of the colonial pe-riod, contribute to the revaluation of history in a refreshing didactic-recreational combination.

The establishment of art gal-lery circuits, like those of Santo domingo, can show the wealth of the visual production that ranges from the naïf to the performance. other proposals are the popular art fairs, the professional artistic creations and the museums, be it of fine arts or those offering a more anthropological vision of the Caribbean being. The Carib-bean is undoubtedly a space for intercultural dialogue. ■

creasingly more privileged place within international trade. The idea is a broad spectrum that cov-ers the philosophy of life of the symbolic productions (tangible and intangible) of the peoples, expressed in their music, crafts, popular fiestas, carnivals, oral and written literature, festivals, artistic presentations and visual arts, theater, dance and cinema productions, among so many oth-ers, from a rational perspective of respect for authenticity and ori-gins, without a narrow protec-tionism. Seen in this light, the Caribbean tourist product can, from that platform, constantly innovate.

In the All-Inclusive hotels the animation programs can become

and that the Caribbean nations are making an effort to give val-ue to products related to nature, sports, events, among others, it is also true that there still exists a great unexplored reserve in cul-ture, especially to gauge an image that is more real based on the offer of more authentic products.

The current changes taking place in the complex world sce-nario make increasingly more vis-ible the prime role of culture in the solutions to social problems, political conflicts and integration, but also in the transnational dy-namic of the markets.

Today there is talk about tour-ism being part of the cultural in-dustry and, therefore, the cultural products are occupying an in-

Caribbean’s Cultural Product Favors Intercultural Dialogue

■■ Roberto■Pastor■Raola■Graduate in History of Art from the University of Havana. Master in Cultural Promotion from the Fernando Ortiz House of Higher Studies, University of Havana. Professor of Cultural Tourism, Faculty of Tourism, University of Havana and Formatur

When we say Caribbean we have the vision of exotic places, beautiful beach-

es, the multilingual hustle and bustle, a spectacular solar light, a musical and dance expression of very varied rhythms; thus a mys-tic atmosphere is conceived. But the Caribbean is also perceived as a geo-tourist area of great dy-namism struggling to diversify its product, to find sustainable solu-tions for its development projects, to objectively approach to reality the ideas of integration and eco-nomic balance.

despite the effects of the cri-sis and the market’s turbulences, 2012 closed with a 5% growth as compared to 2011, and although the Caribbean Tourism organi-zation’s statistics are still not con-clusive, some 25 million persons visited the Caribbean. It is expect-ed that for 2013 the region will re-ceive 30 million. The dominican republic, Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto rico and Bahamas mark the van-guard in arrivals.

For observers interested in that area of the planet, the recreation offers are concentrated in what some authors call modalities in-serted in the single product of sun and beach: they essentially refer to golf tourism, cruises and the All-Inclusive in comfortable resorts.

While it is true that those mo-dalities are the ones that contrib-ute the greatest amount of income,

TTC ITB 2013

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