SunTours exec tells how to woo more regional travellers

by Marlon Madden

A top executive of leading destination management firm SunTours Caribbean is suggesting that tourism industry players across the region implement special rates and tour packages specifically designed for regional travellers.

Jesse Lee Lum, Regional Manager at SunTours Caribbean, put forward the recommendation recently as she joined other panelists on day two of a Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) discussion in examining ways of encouraging more intra-regional travel.

The discussions were held under the theme Rebuilding Intra-Caribbean Travel: Removing Barriers and Building Bridges to Recapture over US$1 billion in Lost Annual Revenues and Beyond.

Over the two days, tourism officials identified a number of obstacles to intra-regional travel including high taxes and fees, entry requirements, lack of marketing support, limited collaboration between destinations and the COVID-19 impact on festivals and entertainment activities.

However, they also identified some opportunities for stimulating intra-regional travel recovery including raising awareness among Caribbean nationals, diversification of the tourism product, promoting intra-regional travel among extra regional tourists who visit the Caribbean and promotion of culture and heritage tourism to woo more regional travellers.

During her presentation, Lee Lum pointed out that like other tourism related firms SunTours Caribbean was not spared the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, she said it was the “stringent protocols and testing requirements” in some
destinations that were continuing to have a negative impact on business.

“An example for us particularly in Barbados, we had guests that would come to the island, test positive and then have to stay on at their own expense. That was a big, big challenge and actually to today, continues to be a challenge, particularly in Barbados,” she said.

“The next obstacle which we have been speaking about is this air lift challenge between islands. It is a key factor in stimulating intra-Caribbean travel. The obvious obstacle to that is the high pricing and this lack of direct routes between islands. Pricing doesn’t just fall into the airlines and the governments’ hands. I think that it does sort of go across the board, particularly businesses on the ground – destination management companies, suppliers, travel agents and accommodation. We need to really focus on what our CARICOM rates are,”
she recommended.

Noting that having a local rate across some accommodation and tour facilities in Barbados made a significant difference for those businesses, Lee Lum said offering a CARICOM rate could also help to stimulate more business from the region.

She also highlighted the need for Caribbean destinations to offer “better” packages to woo regional travellers. She explained that while CARICOM nationals tended to be more independent when planning their trips there was still room for destination management firms to do more in becoming the “go-to person”, but they would need to do more targeted marketing.

“Immediate effect would be discounted rates that we would have for the regional passengers. I think our challenge is marketing that through the right channels to make sure everybody understands and knows what we are offering,” she said.

The tourism executive also stressed the need for improved relationships between industry players, adding that communication will be a critical part of the process so that regional travellers were more aware of what was on offer in each destination.

She suggested that a part of the long-term plan should be to introduce tailored tour packages for regional travellers based on their needs.

“Creating those tour packages specifically for the regional traveller I think could bring a lot of new life into the market.”

Local tourism officials have recently expressed concern about a decline in visitors from the region, with Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) Rudy Grant indicating that visitor arrivals have fallen from around 15 per cent prior
to the pandemic, to approximately 11 per cent.

Grant attributed this to challenges associated with regional airlines, and the collapse and subsequent restructuring of the Antiguan-based Caribbean airline LIAT.

“The regional airlift is challenging. It is nowhere close to the airlift you would have had in 2019. A lot of that is due mainly to the fact that LIAT, as you know, has gone through some serious restructuring, and the additional airlines that have come in and the seat capacities that they bring have not been able to replace the LIAT seats. So, we do have a challenge there,” said Grant. 

marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb