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By Robert Andre Emmanuel
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Tourism officials have declared the 43rd Caribbean Travel Marketplace a resounding success, as Prime Minister Gaston Browne said that the event demonstrated the country’s emergence as a premier conference destination in the Caribbean.
“I’m very pleased with the evolution of our product to the extent that we can host a number of international and regional conferences,” the PM said during the Marketplace, while speaking with reporters.
The three-day event saw over 9,000 business meetings between tourism suppliers and international buyers, which Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association President Sanovnik Destang said was the second-highest number of meetings recorded in a single space since the pandemic.
Chief Executive Officer of Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority Colin James told Observer media that the Marketplace showcased the destination’s capabilities on multiple fronts, from seamless arrival experiences to sustainability initiatives.
“The collaboration between the private sector and the public sector, the Hotel Association, the Ministry of Tourism and the Tourism Authority has been phenomenal,” James said.
“We’ve shown that as a small destination we can manage like what the bigger ones can, but we’ve shown them today that we can do it and we can do it well.”
The event featured 22 local tourism properties, the largest representation Antigua and Barbuda has ever had at a Caribbean Travel Marketplace, with Tourism Minister Max Fernandez and CEO James said the strong local participation reflected the industry’s recognition of the event’s value.
“Normally when we go to a marketplace, it’s maybe five or six hotels who will travel along to Jamaica or Bahamas,” Colin James explained. “But here we’ve got the marketplace to them, so they’ve seen the value, they’ve seen the benefit.”
The marketplace introduced several innovations, including an open-concept floor plan replacing the traditional pipe-and-drape set-up used in previous years. Destang said the new format received excellent feedback from participants.
“This is at a global standard and especially for first time hosting this trade show, Antigua and Barbuda already should be proud,” Destang said.
Executive Director of the Antigua and Barbuda Hotels and Tourism Association (ABHTA) Patrice Simon emphasized the quality of discussions between local properties and international tour operators.
“The quality of the discussions that they’ve had with tour operators that they’ve been longing to work with, that they finally get to meet face to face,” Simon said. “It means as we look ahead to the season to 2025-2026 that those discussions will pan into more bookings for the destination.”
The event also attracted record participation from regional destinations, with strong delegations from Dominica, St Lucia and Barbados taking advantage of Antigua’s relative distance to their islands and ease of connectivity.
Through a bevy of press conferences and side interviews with regional and international media representatives, Caribbean islands representatives took advantage of the unique opportunity to market their island heading into the summer months.
For example, the Cayman Islands announced its new “Perfect Vacation” summer promotion offering seven nights for the price of six, targeting the “ideal” vacation length of eight days, Dominica revealed progress on major infrastructure projects, including a cable car system set to open in December 2025 that will transport visitors from Roseau Valley to the Boiling Lake in 20 minutes, transforming what was previously a six-hour trek and progress on its new international airport, currently 40 percent complete and scheduled for 2027.
Meanwhile, Turks and Caicos officials reported strong recovery from travel advisories, with 192,297 stay-over visitors in the first quarter representing a 2.3 percent increase over 2024.
The destination showcased its luxury positioning with an average daily rate of $1,514 in the first quarter.
St Lucia celebrated a 14 percent increase in visitor arrivals for 2024, with officials announcing major developments including the Secrets St Lucia Resort and Spa opening June 1, and the $1.3 billion Isla development launching its first phase in August.
The US Virgin Islands, meanwhile, reported its continued growth with occupancy up 6.3 percent and strong performance across its three islands, crediting partnerships with sports teams and lifestyle brands for expanding their market reach beyond traditional demographics.
At the event’s closing event billed as “The Wicket Fete – the Cricket Carnival Experience”, Antigua and Barbuda Hotels and Tourism Association President Craig Marshall thanked participants for attending the country’s first ever Caribbean marketplace, crediting collaboration between public and private sectors for elevating the destination’s international profile.
The conference officially concluded with fanfare with guest performances by Tian Winter and Claudette Peters as well as former cricket legends Sir Richie Richardson and Sir Curtly Ambrose who addressed guests, promoting Antigua as “the most beautiful island in the world”.
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