A Caribbean Year in Review

Written by Ashley Proceviat, Sojern

As 2017 draws to a close, Sojern reflects on the year that was and the travel and tourism trends that impacted the Caribbean.

1. Extreme weather—an understatement—took its toll on much of the Caribbean this year, but there is cause for optimism. According to our latest Global Travel Insights report, Cancun and San Juan are the second and third most searched long-haul winter destinations for North Americans, behind London.
2. We learned more about the factors involved in planning a Caribbean cruise. In 2017, we released a couple of reports that touched on the cruise vertical, which is synonymous with the Caribbean. Our Cruise Report highlights how intertwined destinations are in planning a cruise vacation. In fact, 96% of those planning a cruise take destination into account when making their decision. More recently, we released our report Sojern Uncovers the Modern Traveler’s Paths to Purchase, where we show one traveler, ‘Isabel’, as she moves across devices and destinations to plan her dream Caribbean cruise. Be sure to check them both out for more valuable insights and marketing takeaways.
3. We enrolled multiple destinations in Sojern’s Hurricane Recovery Program to help our Caribbean tourism partners get back to business. The personal responses back from clients on our offer in this program have been extremely positive and very heartwarming.

We are looking forward to supporting Caribbean travel in 2017 and beyond, and Sojern wishes everyone at CHTA a wonderful holiday season!