Comments

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  Anil September 4, 2010 at 8:30am

  David,Tony,Patricia,Julie et. al. People do stay in Hyatt,JWM,Hilton when travelling internationally. That is the distinct segment known as road-warriors, business traveller and governmental types who have to use US carriers and US hotels. Discussing the nuances of this group is a topic in itself. The right question should be, what security blanket kind of a purpose do the American chains serve that other hotels might not ? Many frequent flyers who do international travel very often say - A Hyatt/Marriott/Starwood removes anxiety and allows them to focus on their business. Now, a leisure resort or island is another story.
  BTW: Not all Caribbean islands have a distinct local cusine. In fact some of the islands import everything from US as nothing of substance grows locally.
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  David Lawrence September 3, 2010 at 1:08am

  Shoutout to Tony for the best solution.
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  Northeast News September 3, 2010 at 12:11am

  "It probably depends on the person" is right. When it comes to travel preferences (and culture, and religion, and politics, and spending power) there are no typical Americans. The marketing and branding pros must be walking on eggshells these days.
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  Tony King September 2, 2010 at 10:21pm

  Best solution, close all the hotels, charter a yacht, call me...!!
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  Julie September 2, 2010 at 9:52pm

  It probably depends on the person. My personal preference is definitely small, independent hotels. But I also enjoy eating local cuisine and experiencing the local culture when I travel. However, I also have friends who prefer American chain hotels even when they travel internationally.
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  Patricia Borns September 2, 2010 at 9:21pm

  David raises an important question. How many Americans share or don't share his travel preference? For many years, the Caribbean was on an all-inclusive corporate hotel binge that erased its cultural distinctiveness, because that's what governments believed Americans wanted. Now, the talk is of small footprint boutique hotels and local rentals. To paraphrase Freud, what do Americans really want?
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  David Lawrence September 2, 2010 at 8:26pm

  Good Q, Northeast, 2 good answers. Also as an American, I don't want to stay at a Hyatt or Hilton, especially in another country. Would we go all the way to Japan to stay at a dude ranch?
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  Tony King September 2, 2010 at 6:16pm

  Just to add another thought to Patricia's, there is a tendency to forget that much of the Caribbean i.e. St. Martin, St. Barth, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Cuba, St. Vincent, the Grenadines caters almost exclusively to European visitors who do not visit the Ritz Carlton's, Hyatt's and Hilton's of this world.
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  Patricia Borns September 2, 2010 at 4:59pm

  Are you referring to "U.S. Hotel Brands in the Caribbean: Over-Supplied or Under-Represented?" (www.hvs.com/Library/Articles/?cat=11). The data looks to be two years old, and the authors' main business is stimulating foreign investment. Not to discount their conclusions, but those two things raise cautionary flags for me.
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  Northeast News September 2, 2010 at 4:27pm

  U.S. HOTEL BRANDS IN THE CARIBBEAN:
  UNDERREPRESENTED OR UNDER DELIVERING:
  
  The largest hotel consultant in the Caribbean, MacLellan & Associates, reports:
  
  "A recent article by Parris Jordan and La Baik of HVS provided interesting data on the apparent low volume of US-branded hotels in the Caribbean, when compared to the hospitality scene in North America. The conclusion reached was that there may be an opportunity for significant growth by brands in the region in the near future."
  
  Is this, in fact, the right conclusion?