Business View Caribbean | October 2019

22 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN OCTOBER 2019 hurricanes every year, we have an increasingly unstable European market with Brexit. So, I think most hotels in Antigua this year had a quiet summer.” Currently, Carlisle Bay’s visitors are 50 percent U.K. and 50 percent U.S., with Canada representing a large untapped opportunity. As for marketing, they have “a toe in every pond.” U.S.-based representatives work major tour operators in the U.S.; the resort also works with online travel agents, who are a huge source of business. This year, they’re going to revisit the Carlisle Bay product with companies such as American Airlines Vacations, Jet Blue Vacations, and Costco Travel that has been handling much more five-star product in the Caribbean. Air Canada Vacations is another focus. Their representative was on the island in June for Antigua Showcase that brought together all the large tour operators. Air Canada is doing a big drive with the Antigua and Barbuda Tourist Authority in November, where they’re flooding Antigua with hundreds of Canadian travellers, and all the hotels are taking part. It’s a great opportunity for Carlisle Bay to expand its reach in both Canada and the U.S. Speaking about its target market, Sukamaran explains, “If you look traditionally at the Caribbean, all the high-end boutique hotels have always essentially been Bed & Breakfasts, and they have beautiful restaurants, as well. Looking at the growth of large companies such as Sandals and Royalton, they are luxury, all-inclusive hotels that are incredibly successful providing a very competitive, all-inclusive product. So, we do both. We are aggressively changing the U.S., Canadian, and U.K. all-inclusive product – we have our room rate, and then we put an all-inclusive supplement on top, which is very value-led. We package that up for the tour operators, so we have both an all- inclusive product and a Bed & Breakfast product. But I do believe that all-inclusive is the way forward.” A large influx of families arrive in Antigua for the U.K. school holiday, as well as the U.S. spring break. The resort is also building its corporate