By: Staff Writer
June 29, 2021
An international financier who has done extensive infrastructure work in the Caribbean says that international travel will “track” domestic travel in the region, calls for caution on lack of airlift from Europe and lack of connectivity between islands as international travel is only 27 percent of 2019 demand.
Andre Wright, executive vice president of Standard International Group, told Caribbean Magazine Plus that he thinks that “regional travel is going to track international travel.”
He added: “International travel has not come back, but US domestic travel is back up at 80 percent of the 2019 demand where international travel is only 27 percent of 2010 demand.
“They don’t predict international business travel if the Caribbean tracks that until 2025 of recovery, meaning that they are going to trace one another like when international travel from the US to Europe opens up that will open up the Caribbean because there’s no direct flights, so your international travellers from Europe come through the US; either they want to have the experience or because there’s no service to get them there directly.”
Mr Wright reiterated: “Domestic and regional travel is going to track international travel, you’d have less inter Island flights.
“That’s another big problem,” he added. “Now, it’s almost like Africa because when you want to transfer in Africa you have to go to Europe or South Africa. For the Caribbean, you almost have to go to Miami to transfer or New York, which doesn’t make any sense at all.
“So inter Island travel has been weakening, because the volumes aren’t there. The volumes have to be at a certain threshold to make those inter Island flights economical. So, I think that’s going to be a big challenge with the inter-Island connectivity. You can’t do it by boat.”
Gaston Browne, prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, announced last week a 50 percent reduction in taxes on airline tickets for travel within several countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) for the LIAT Ltd, the southern Caribbean’s regional airline.
The move was seen as one to help boost the Caribbean travel until international travel picked back up from the damages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We think at this time where regional travel is relatively low, extremely flat that there is very little to lose and even though it may not be the best condition which to analyse the elasticity of ticket prices, it will give us some indicative indication as to how a reduction in pricing would impact on demand without creating a financial crisis, “Prime Minister Gaston Browne said.
Mr Wright also crossed out ferry services every being viable for the region as some have been suggesting may be a solution for inter-island travel. “Because most Caribbean people don’t want to go on boats, they’re afraid of the water. Believe it or not that’s just a fact. They tried to do a ferry from Port of Spain to Tobago and it didn’t really work. They tried a ferry system from St. Thomas to St. Croix it didn’t really work.
He acknowledged however while in the main the ferry system doesn’t work out well for the Caribbean, he pointed to a few successful ferry systems between islands and said, “From St Maarten to Anguilla, yes, that ferry works. The ferry from St Thomas to St John. sea water that works, but it is on the open water and you don’t want to go out in the ocean.”