Opposite page: Fascinating find at Starfish Point, Cayman islands; Big Bird and captivated new friend at Beaches Turks and Caicos
Nevis Cultural Theatre. When kids have five stamps in their book they receive a special Kids ‘r’ VIPs gift. Puerto Rico should be on agents’
radar too for family holidays with new airlift from British Airways and a new ToroVerde Nature Adventure Park offering kids’ rainforest adventures such as zip-wiring and mountain biking. Resorts like El Conquistador, with its own waterpark, private island and kids club, are perfect for families. Many new resorts are putting families high on the agenda. Harlequin Resorts’ Buccament Bay opens in April on St. Vincent. Highlights include a Pat Cash Tennis Academy, a Liverpool FC Soccer School and a Harlequin Performing Arts Academy. There’s also a Little Harlequins Kids club and Teen Club, babysitting and family-friendly dining. Smugglers Cove Resort & Spa on
St Lucia's northwest coast is a new four-star all-inclusive with a Maco’s Kids Club, which caters for new-born babies to teenagers with educational and active experiences including jewellery making and t-shirt painting. The hotel also has several children’s pools and a 100m waterslide plus dedicated play areas including a replica of the island’s Fort Rodney.
WHAT'S NEW Pirate ships, fairies, witches and wizards will all be making an appearance in a new series of storytelling events being hosted at St James's Club, Antigua, during the February and May half-term holidays. The storytelling weeks are being hosted in partnership with Virgin Holidays, Elite Island Resorts and the Puffin publishing company. In February one of Puffin’s top
illustrators, Adam Stower, whose books include Mungo and the Picture Book Pirates and Bottoms Up will host daily sessions in the children’s club involving storytelling, character creation, drawing and lots of imagination. The story telling week starts from £1,672 per adult and £875 per child. The St James's Club also has new
beach club family suites, bookable exclusively through Virgin Holidays, with two adjoining and interconnecting rooms on the ground floor. These sleep up to six.
TOURISM TALK JEAN-MARC FLAMBERT DIRECTOR OF MARKETING UK AND EUROPE SAINT LUCIA TOURIST BOARD “Family bookings remain steady, which is very positive. It is inevitable that the Air Passenger
Duty (APD) hikes will put an amount of pressure on the figures this year but many tour operators selling Saint Lucia are absorbing part of this cost increase through aggressive pricing. For example, Almond Morgan Bay is promoting its kids-go-free offer and deals on its family suites. “Parents want to educate as well as
entertain their children on holiday and our 'Live the Legend' illustrates
TOP SELLING TIPS... Suggest clients with
toddlers choose islands served by direct UK flights
For kids' activities push
Barbados (zip wire, museums, caves), St Lucia (mountain biking, tropical rain forest, walk in volcano), Jamaica (Dunns River Falls, Blue Mountain adventures) or Puerto Rico (new adventure park)
School holidays are
low season in the Caribbean so push the good prices
For eco-adventure family holidays try Dominica
Look out for kids’ clubs
with a difference like the kids’ ecological learning centre at The Jalousie Plantation, Saint Lucia
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