Caribbean
be paid to training locals as butlers and other high-end staff. “If we are getting spa staff from Bali and butlers from Thailand, we have failed as a region,” she adds. Troubetzkoy’s wish list also includes an ambition to get the airline experience upgraded. “We’re a bit jealous when we see how the UAE
airlines offer a completely different type of airlift that is very luxurious. We wonder how we will ever attract that type that fits with our market. That’s clearly a discussion that has to be had,” she says.
But perhaps for the UK, some of her concerns
are unfounded for now, with upmarket specialists reporting what appears to be buoyant demand for the region. “The Caribbean is 50% of our business and still growing,” says Linda Bellis, director of Lusso
Travel. “It’s deemed as safe to travel to – people that would have chosen other destinations are choosing the Caribbean.” She warns, however: “In the past, islands
looked to other Caribbean islands when it came to competition, but in the last couple of years that has changed. For at least two-thirds of the quotes we’re doing, we also have to do one for the Indian Ocean too. The Caribbean is not losing the edge, but it still has some stiff competition.”
Island impact Some destinations look set to make the news more than others this year. A spurt in visitors to Jamaica from the UK led to
it surpassing the 200,000 mark for the first time – there were 201,364 arrivals in 2015, up by 12%. The tourist board highlights a number of
factors, from the popularity of ecotourism and focus on sustainability to a reduction in fuel
surcharges and the number of cruise liners homeporting in Montego Bay. There has also been a good level of investment
in Jamaica – and not just in terms of the bigger hotel projects it has been known for in the past, but developments in the luxury sector. One of these is The Cliff Hotel & Spa at Negril,
run by Mary Phillips, formerly general manager at the historic Jamaica Inn. A remake of the former Moon Dance Resort, overlooking the famed cliffs of Negril, The Cliff opened in its new guise in December and offers 33 suites and cottages, including a five-bedroom villa. Round Hill, a property synonymous with boutique Jamaica, has undergone renovations including a refurbished spa with yoga pavilion. Eight of its villas have also been upgraded to the luxury category. This winter also saw the opening of a second restaurant, which is fine dining, reservation-only and upstairs from the original restaurant. The island’s equally renowned Goldeneye
debuts 26 freestanding one and two-bedroom octagonal beach huts in April, designed by Jamaican architect Ann Hodges. The freestanding “huts” have a private veranda, oversized louvered windows and high ceilings, designed to eradicate the need for air conditioning, allowing natural breezes to flow through instead. At the other end of the scale, the 700-room
Moon Palace, the first outside Mexico, opened at Ocho Rios in September, providing an upmarket family option. “All our new hotel developments have been
four and five star, we are not a destination that sells on price; Jamaica is more expensive than the Dominican Republic or Mexico,” explains Liz Fox, Jamaica Tourist Board’s UK and Northern Europe regional director. Barbados had its best year on record in 2015
and remains the top UK choice, while we remain its most important market, contributing 37% of all visits to the island, up by 14% on 2014.
DESTINATIONS SPRING 2016
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