This fabled sea, covering more than a million square miles and 7,000 islands with diverse languages, cultures, and ecosystems, has become probably the planet's premier vacation playground. Here it's all about its regional issues and allures. And yes, the (Plus) means we're including the Bahamas and Bermuda along with the Caribbean coasts of Colombia, Costa Rica, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guayana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Suriname, and Panama.
For other individual island forums, check out Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Bonaire, the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Curacao, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, Saba, Statia (St. Eustatius), St. Barth, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Maarten/Martin, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The top 8 musts in gracious, beautiful Bermuda
Craig Stanfill A British Overseas Territory with a land area of just 21 square miles – the size of a middling city anywhere in the world – and a population of 73,000, Bermuda is named after its original discoverer, Spanish explorer Juan de Bermúdez. It has been settled for 412 years and has been a popular tourist destination – especially for those in the United States, for whom it´s a flight of just over two hours from the East Coast – since the 1880´s, when the Hamilton Hotel (now the…
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Caribbean travelers who take time to research their destination possibilities SHOULD be better informed than to lump all islands together, or to think violence in Kingston could affect how safe they would be to fly in to Montego Bay to spend a week at the all-inclusive of their choice. Some are, some aren't...
We all know the differences from one island to the next, historically, topographically, culturally, linguistically, gastronomically, etc. It's never been easy conveying the Caribbean's heterogeneity to our readers. Now in these times when outlets want 47-word Twitter-esque write-ups (that fit on a typical cell phone screen), it's well-nigh impossible.
And while the Caribbean nations try to cooperate on larger PR initiatives, they remain competitors, so don't be surprised to see some islands subtly capitalize on the Kingston problem, just as they did after Natalie Holloway's disappearance on Aruba (which impacted overall tourism to the region!)---or just as the ABC Islands take pains to point out that they don't suffer major weather events, the promotional equivalent of hitting below the hurricane belt.
"Jamaica unrest said creating problem for regional tourism
LAST week's deadly unrest in Jamaica's capital of Kingston has created a major public relations crisis for the Caribbean, St Lucia's Tourism Minister Allan Chastanet has said.
Chastanet, a former chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that the region's tourism product is suffering from the television pictures of burning buildings, soldiers engaging gunmen in street battles and coffins containing bodies being splashed across the globe.
He said when visitors speak of coming to the Caribbean for a vacation, Jamaica is among the first countries that come to mind.
Chastanet said tourists view the Caribbean as a group of countries that are connected and 'there are some people that are not able to differentiate one island from another'."
Could you take a look at a collaboration that we are doing with Cap Maison on St. Lucia? If so I'll forward over the details and press release..
Steve