I did a flight search on Expedia. A flight in June for a week from London to Barbados costs just over US$1,000. Then I did another one. The same dates applied, except this time, the destination was Bali - the flight cost is US$1414. It's not a huge difference for the traveler willing to journey far and wide for white sands, clear waters and great food and all these things can be found in both the Caribbean and Indonesia.
It's fair to say then that Bali is one of the Caribbean Tourism industry's main competitors. The "dangerously beautiful" Bali recently got some great news from the American Government - the travel warning in place since 2000 has now been lifted - they're not considered so dangerous anymore. What will this mean for Indonesia's tourism industry? Bali is already winning with the proximity factor with regard to the new emerging markets of China and India. The European market could go either way, they're right in the middle and the US market's domestic tourism is on the up with the threat of recession looming. So really the question is - what will this mean for the Caribbean's competitive edge?
Thank God, for the diaspora that travel home regularly enough to keep flight prices moderate and who like to buy pieces of "home", pumping a little extra money into our island economies. No wonder the Trinidad Development Company is focusing primarily on this market. But what will it mean for the other markets like Barbados and the Cayman Islands that depend of foreign visitors? Only time will tell. But until then, it's worth seeing what the competition is doing...
Check out a couple of their promotional videos here and here
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