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Data released by the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) showed the region maintained growth into the third quarter of 2011, despite growing uncertainty about the US economy. With most countries having reported Q311 figures, only five countries showed year-on-year (y-o-y) declines in growth: the Bahamas (-2.2%), Dominica (-2.6%), St Lucia (-6.2%), St Maarten (-5.5%) and the US Virgin Islands (-4.8%). Of these, it was noticeable that the Bahamas, St Lucia and St Maarten were among the few not to have reported figures for Q311, indicating that their data do not reflect the traditional increase in arrivals following the end of the hurricane season in October.

By contrast, some countries experienced high levels of growth, such as Anguilla (12.0%), Cuba (8.4%), Curaçao (15.7%) and Suriname (6.9%), while others recorded solid growth of 3-5%. However, in general the Caribbean countries have not succeeded in returning to the 8-11% growth enjoyed before the 2008- 2009 economic downturn. Levels of growth are unlikely to rebound further in 2012 given the slowing growth in the EU and the US, which are the main source markets for the Caribbean.

Focus On St Lucia

St Lucia, the self-proclaimed home of luxury tourism, is in the eastern Caribbean Sea and is part of the Lesser Antilles chain of islands. St Lucia initially weathered the economic downturn of 2008-2009 relatively well, with tourist numbers holding up within the context of a Caribbean-wide slowdown. However, the island was slow to pick up pace in 2011, with arrivals falling by 6.2% y-o-y between January and August, which was one of the worst performances in the region. This may demonstrate the downside of St Lucias reputation as a high-end destination. With the economic situations in the US and EU remaining uncertain, tourists may prefer less expensive destinations in the Caribbean.

LIAT Strike Gathers Pace

Regional airline LIAT has been experiencing prolonged staff issues, with workers first going on strike in June and sporadic strikes or sick outs (when all employees call in sick in an impromptu strike) continuing in December 2011. The protests reached a new level in early December, when Captain Michael Blackburn, head of the Leewards Islands Airline Pilots Association (LIALPA), was fired on the basis of inappropriate comments he had made about LIATs management. Pilots promptly went on strike, grounding flights across the Caribbean and leaving passengers stranded. LIATs owners – the governments of Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda and St Vincent and the Grenadines – appear unwilling to respond to staff concerns, with Vincentian Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves even suggesting the airline could be disbanded and resurrected as a different entity. While this seems an unlikely outcome, the prolonged unrest at LIAT is likely to benefit its main local competition, Caribbean Airlines.