The Caribbean is a region shaped by every imaginable influence, and 2015 was a banner year; international trips to the Caribbean grew by seven percent – the second straight year tourism grew faster than the global growth rate.
The new Resonance 2016 Caribbean Tourism Quality Index – released at the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s “Caribbean Week” in New York this week – reveals that the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico produce the most quality experiences in the Caribbean overall. Saint Martin, Anguilla, and Saint Vincent and The Grenadines are shown to have the most quality experiences per 100,000 visitors.
The study measures tourism’s supply-side performance and competitiveness in 28 destinations across the Caribbean based on both absolute and indexed scales: the Absolute Ranking measures the total number of quality experiences; the Indexed Ranking evaluates performance in terms of how many quality experiences are delivered per visitor (i.e. the number of quality experiences per 100,000 visitors).
The types of experiences people enjoy most in the Caribbean are culinary, sightseeing and sports and adventure activities, with entertainment and culture coming in a distant fourth and fifth.
ABSOLUTE RANKING
In the Absolute Ranking – greatest number of quality experiences – the Dominican Republic holds top place for entertainment, lodging and connectivity, and also reports the greatest number of visitors. Destinations that attract the most visitors traditionally sit atop Resonance’s Absolute Ranking.
Puerto Rico and Cuba rank second and third: the report poses the question whether tourism can save Puerto Rico, the debt-crippled and Zika-troubled country. It also speculates on the changes Cuba will see and bring to tourism in the Caribbean. The influx of American travelers to Cuba – a 10 – 20 percent increase following Obama’s historic visit – could spur as many as 110 new commercial flights from the U.S. to Cuba per day starting late 2016, the report says.
INDEXED RANKING
When it comes to which destinations deliver the most quality experiences per visitor, Saint Martin tops the Indexed Ranking in six areas – museums, shopping, nightlife, amusements, outdoors and restaurants. Its top attraction, Orient Bay Beach, is ranked among the best sightseeing and outdoor activities experiences in the report.
Saint Vincent and The Grenadines is second in the Indexed Ranking; not co-incidentally, the southern Caribbean island saw a 5.4% increase in total stopover arrivals in 2015 as well as a 9.2% increase in arrivals from the U.S., according to the CTO.
The Resonance 2016 Caribbean Tourism Quality Index gives Caribbean tourism leaders a new lens through which to view destination strengths and weaknesses, and to plan for growth in years to come.