According to the report, imminent negative developments will impact strongest on North America, Europe and the business travel sector, rather than on holiday travel. Interest in short and medium-range travel destinations will increase over the next two years. This is good news for us due to the Caribbeanʼs close proximity to the United States.
The findings indicate that the prospects for the travel market recovering vary significantly depending on the region. For example, South America could emerge from the global economic crisis by the end of 2009.
There are positive signs for Europe as well as even in times of great economic hardship people are unwilling to give up holidays. According to a Europe-wide poll for the European Travel Monitor in 2008, 48 per cent of respondents said they would definitely take a holiday in 2009, and that it was most likely they would travel more often than in 2008.
32 per cent said they would travel at least as often as in 2008, and only 14 per cent said they would travel less while only six per cent of those polled said they would not travel at all.
Figures within Europe vary considerably per country. Norwegians and Finns are eager to travel in 2009; Italians and Britons are less keen to make any plans. Europeans earning in Euro who retain their jobs during the global economic recession will find non-Eurozone destinations more affordable and are poised to choose destinations closer to home.
Germany and the UK together account for 35 per cent of total European outbound trips. With these economies in recession, destinations around the world may have to look to new European source markets such as Russia, Finland, Norway and Sweden, which according to the study all posted above average outbound growth for much of 2008.
These source markets should be looked into.
The US cruise industry organization Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) estimates that 13.5 million people will take a cruise worldwide in 2009, an increase of 2.3 per cent over 2008 that saw 13.2 million travellers take a cruise.
North America accounted for 10.15 million passengers in 2007 while the number of internationally sourced passengers is growing dramatically year after year. Through the third quarter of 2008, CLIA lines saw a 30 per cent annual increase in international passengers.
This is great news for the Port of St. Maarten that annually attracts over 1.3 million cruise passengers.
CLIAʼs 2008 Cruise Market Profile suggests that almost 34 million Americans intend to take a cruise within the next three years.
According to the CLIA, although the global economic crisis may have an impact on consumer intentions, the statistics give the cruise industry confidence that demand for cruising will continue to be strong.
Despite the enormity of the challenges we face as an island nation, there are still positive developments. As long as we do our homework and work together with stakeholders, we will be able to ride out this economic storm.
Roddy Heyliger