When it comes to doing business effectively, a to-do list is essential. That’s why we at STAR Businessweek are so pleased to launch the first of our new series of easy to digest, listicle-styled articles that hold key info you need to know about business trends and developments. Starting us off is this tourism-themed list focused on an industry that is vital to the Caribbean; one that is strong in 2019 and set to see a number of new opportunities for growth arrive in the decade ahead. So here now are 7 Tourism Trends to Watch in the 2020s.
1. More Virtual Reality in Marketing
VR offers the opportunity for any tourist to experience a fun virtual world.
How It Works: Via use of a headset, headphones, and other assortments like handheld controllers, a modern VR app’s creation typically involves a combination of talented programmers, motion-capture technology, and visual artists that bring an interactive digital world to life.
What It Will Do: Beyond the opportunity for tourism providers to add VR attractions to their resorts for a tourist’s use on arrival, VR tech will increasingly be an important marketing tool. Some, like Marriott Caribbean & Latin America Resorts, are already utilising the power of VR in their marketing strategies.
After all, it’s one thing to write on a travel website about the beauty of Gros Piton and Petit Piton in Saint Lucia, but it’s another thing to show a potential tourist the view of them with their own eyes via VR.
2. Short-Stay Vacations
For tourists under time pressure, short-stay vacations solve their inability to take a long holiday.
How It Works: For the Caribbean, successfully appealing to the short-stay market in future is particularly important. If done correctly, tourists will happily depart for the weekend at airports in Miami, New York, Toronto and elsewhere on Friday afternoon, knowing they can dine and dance in the Caribbean before the night is out, and still be back home Monday morning in time for work.
What It Will Do: The growing short-stay market will help maintain profitability and increase it in new ways. But making a success of this formula requires maximising in-country efficiency, like ensuring the transition from airport to resort is fast. Numerous nations in the region, like Saint Lucia, are right now engaged in upgrades for their airport and other key infrastructure, which augurs well for the future.
3. Rise of Eco-Tourists
More people who practise green living at home now also want their holidays to be green too.
How It Works: Alongside holidaying in green resorts (more on that in a moment), green tourists seek a low-carbon footprint holiday that provides a direct connection with nature. They also often hold a particular interest in sustainability movements and projects.
What It Will Do: For Caribbean nations, the liability of climate change can be an asset, luring tourists to the region to not only take in its natural beauty, but see up close the many sustainability projects being pursued, like the UAE-Caribbean Renewable Energy Fund. Or they may wish to spend a few days at Dominica’s newly opened Cabrits Resort & Spa Kempinski, a Green Globe-certified establishment that embodies many of the principles of environmental sustainability that the Nature Isle (as Dominica is known) strives to promote.
4. Sustainable Hotels
Sustainable hotels, like Hotel Manapany in Saint Barts and True Blue Bay Boutique Resort in Grenada, are built (or renovated) to be clean and green.
How It Works: These hotels are built (or renovated) with building materials to increase energy efficiency, reduce pollution and utilise the surrounding environment (such as via solar panels on the roofs) for the hotel’s benefit in an eco-friendly way. Many of these establishments will increasingly incorporate environmentally-friendly purchasing practices and be subject to independently audited reviews to ensure their compliance with international sustainability guidelines.
What It Will Do: As well as attracting eco-tourists, sustainable hotels provide an avenue to drive down energy bills. If the current course of climate change continues, sustainable hotels will be well-placed to avoid any future government levies on the use of fossil fuel and other pollutants. In addition, climate-resilient hotels will strengthen the capability of the tourism industry in times of severe weather events.
5. Growth of Ultra-Luxury Accommodation
Ultra-luxury resorts are the pinnacle of accommodation – residences that are a level up on a luxury hotel by offering limited and exclusive abodes for those ready to pay top dollar.
How It Works: For the right price you can stay in one of just eleven villas on North Island in the Seychelles, or a
US$ 44,000 per night hill-top villa at Laucala Island Resort in Fiji, or possibly give Virgin billionaire Richard Branson a call – he rents out Necker Island for around US$ 80,000 a night.
What It Will Do: For Caribbean businesses that can leverage this trend, there’s obviously the opportunity for increased profit. But for those who have faithfully run more humble accommodation for many years, the arrival of ultra-luxury accommodations could quickly eat into their market share.
6. More Loyalty Programmes
Loyalty programmes incentivise tourists to come back for repeat business. The stats demonstrate their value, with 83% of hotel loyalty programme members surveyed in 2016, who were highly satisfied, saying they “definitely will” recommend the brand to others.
How It Works: Loyalty programmes have existed for many years in various forms and sizes but, as the tourism industry globally is growing more competitive, there’s a greater recognition by businesses that they must offer something more to keep people returning regularly.
What It Will Do: For tourism businesses, a healthy loyalty programme offers an antidote to many emerging issues. Airbnb may be eating away at their traditional bookings, and new luxury resort offerings may be outpacing their current amenities, but if they can offer something special that retains customer loyalty, then profit will stay steady.
7. An Increase in Cannabis Tourism
Love or loathe the idea, many jurisdictions around the world are changing current laws surrounding the recreational use of cannabis. Such a change promises an uptick in tourism.
How It Works: Beyond the obvious appeal of cannabis tourism for its enthusiasts, there is a wider attraction that cities and countries can craft around it. In complement to famously progressive destinations like Amsterdam, in recent times places like Denver, Colorado have used the legalisation of cannabis as an additional lure to visit their city for its arts and outdoor offerings.
What It Will Do: Although cannabis has been a key part of the Rastafarian tradition seen in Jamaica and around the region, many in the Caribbean family resent the commercial drug trade that has long used local seas for travel throughout the Americas, and tight laws on cannabis persist. However, for those regional nations that do loosen laws, a growth in tourism can be expected. The Caribbean, having already built a tourism industry around health and wellness, is well-placed to incorporate cannabis-themed experiences into its offerings.
