JetBlue Airways is resuming its only nonstop service to the French Caribbean Nov. 5, Caribbean Journal has confirmed. 

The New York City-based carrier is restarting flights between New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe. 

Beginning Nov. 5, JetBlue will operate three flights each week, with service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. 

“”We are thrilled about the return of Jetblue in November, these are excellent news for the destination and for Americans who are eager to discover or to return to our French Caribbean archipelago for a unique experience,” said Sonia Taillepierre, president of the Guadeloupe Tourist Board. 

The relaunch comes as Guadeloupe recently lifted all of its pandemic health restrictions for travelers. 

That means visitors don’t have to show proof of vaccination or testing in order to enter the archipelago. 

Guadeloupe is also gearing up for the return of the Accor Group to the destination; Accor had long operated an MGallery hotel at the Auberge de la Vieille Tour resort, before removing the brand before the pandemic. 

Now, Accor’s Pullman brand is set to open next year with the Royal Key resort. 

Guadeloupe has long been off the radar of American travelers, with its stopover arrivals dominated by visits from mainland france. 

Now, Guadeloupe hopes to change that trend, highlighting the destination’s outstanding cuisine, stunning natural beauty, shimmering beaches and one of the Caribbean’s most vibrant rum-making scenes. 

That extends across the Guadeloupe archipelago, from the rich volcanic soil of Basse-Terre to the charming maritime vibe of Les Saintes to the pristine environment of La Desirade.

“This is a highly anticipated season for all our partners,” said The future of travel is very promising as all health restrictions have been lifted. We are ready to welcome Americans.”

The post JetBlue Is Restarting Another Caribbean Nonstop Route appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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Jamaica just had its best summer of tourism – ever. 

The Caribbean island posted its best stopover visitor arrivals figures and highest foreign exchange earnings for any summer in the history of the country. 

The island has eclipsed what had been its previous record in 2019, with what is already more than 5,000 additional visitors compared to summer 2019. 

“The better news is that our earnings in the summer are up 20 percent over 2019,” said Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett. 

The numbers have already surpassed Jamaica tourism officials’ projections for 2022. 

At the beginning of the year, Jamaica had forecasted $3.5 billion in tourism earnings and around 2.3 million stopover visitors. 

“However, we are now up to 2.6 million projections for stopover visitors, not including cruise [passengers], and the projection for earnings is a whopping US$4.2 billion,” he said.

The totals mean Jamaica’s pandemic tourism recovery is far ahead of schedule.

Indeed, even before the onset of the pandemic, Jamaica did not anticipate reaching these levels until 2025. 

“You see what recovery has done and how strong that recovery is,” Bartlett said. 

Jamaica has also seen strong airlift growth, from significant expansions to traditional tourism poles like Montego Bay to a highly-anticipated new route to the Ian Fleming Airport near Ocho Rios. 

The latter will be launching in November.

For more, visit Jamaica.

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Melia Hotels and Resorts is launching a new all-inclusive brand and a new-look resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. 

The new Falcon’s Resorts By Melia will be the product of a partnership between Melia and global entertainment development company Falcon’s Beyond. 

The plan is to unveil a series of entertainment destinations featuring resorts in “prime leisure markets,” starting with the Dominican Republic’s travel hub of Punta Cana. 

Melia says it’s a concept called “resortainment,” a hospitality experience blended with entertainment experiences, including dining, shopping and entertainment venues. 

Falcon’s Beyond has been working with Melia for more than 10 years with Melia on its Katmandu Park in Mallorca. 

“Our partnership with Falcon’s is a tremendous opportunity to offer a distinctly different vacation experience from our competitors by incorporating immersive and interactive entertainment elements and technologies in the resort experience in ways it has never been done before,” said Vice Chairman and CEO of Meliá, Gabriel Escarrer. “We are thrilled to debut our first Falcon’s Resort by Meliá in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, an exceptional location where we’ve been operating for over 30 years and have a robust network of resorts and loyal guest base.”

The first property will be called Falcon’s Resort by Melia All Suites Punta Cana, a multi-phase transformation of two existing Melia resorts: the Paradisus Grand Cana and The Reserve at Paradisus Palma Real — a total of 622 rooms. 

The first phase is slated to open in December; Melia says it will begin accepting reservations in October 2022. 

That will be an all-inclusive resort with bars, restaurants, pools, swim-up suites, a water park and a kids’ camp. 

The second phase, the rebrand of The Reserve at Paradisus Palma Real, will begin next year. 

It’s part of a broader $350 million destination called Falcon’s Beyond Destination Punta Cana, which will feature a Katmandu theme park expected to open as early as the end of this year. 

That will be followed by Falcon’s Central Punta Cana, a retail, dining and entertainment district that’s already reportedly in development. 

What’s next in the Caribbean? Melia says another Falcon’s Beyond Destination will be coming to Playa Del Carmen in 2025. 

“We’ve built more than a decade-long business relationship with Meliá, beginning with our successful entertainment hospitality property in Mallorca, Spain. We are delighted now to be bringing a further enhanced version of that model to Punta Cana by year-end,” said Cecil Magpuri, CEO of Falcon’s Beyond. “With Falcon’s 22-year history creating story-driven entertainment and hospitality experiences for some of the world’s largest brands, we are leveraging all of our unique expertise and capabilities for Falcon’s Resorts by Melia to deliver an unprecedented vacation experience that goes beyond expectations.”

For more, visit Melia. 

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The Mexican Caribbean’s hottest beach spot is getting a tiny new beach hotel, Caribbean Journal has learned. 

It’s called Casa Chablé, and it’s set to open its doors on Nov. 1, 2022. But while Tulum is its nearest destiantion, it’s in its own world entirely.

The hotel is actually set 22 miles south of Tulum in the Sian Ka’an Biosphere, it’s the latest expansion for Chablé Hotels, a top Mexican hospitality brand. 

The hotel is all about remoteness; it’s surrounded by 12 acres of tropical jungle, positioned right at the edge of a white-sand beach. 

Casa Chablé has just 10 rooms and bungalows. 

Five rooms are set in “Casa Principal,” the hotel’s main villa; the others are set on the beach side, with three right on the sand. 

The hotel is the latest project by interior designer Paulina Moran, with a focus on indigenous design inspirations and local craftsmanship. 

Casa Chablé is home to a lobby bar, a thatched-roof gourmet eatery, a swimming pool, an oceanfront wellness cabana and a gym. 

There is also a rooftop lounge and bar with a plunge pool and a private beach with canopy daybeds and hammocks. 

The culinary program is designed by Jorge Vallejo, best known for his Quintonil eatery in Mexico City, long ranked one of the world’s best restaurants. 

In other words, it’s a tiny beach hotel with the amenities of one that’s far larger. 

Casa Chablé is the fourth the Chablé portfolio, joining the existing Chablé Yucatan and the Chablé Maroma, both also in the Mexican Caribbean, and Chablé Sea of Cortez on the country’s Pacific coast. 

Even better?

The hotel is eminently green: it’s 100 percent powered by renewable solar and wind energy. 

For more, visit Casa Chablé.

The post A New Tiny Caribbean Beach Hotel, South of Tulum appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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It began early after TCI’s tourism reopening during the pandemic, with travelers drawn to the archipelago’s rare combination of sanctuary and seclusion, a spread-out, sand-filled fantasy. 

Since the summer of 2020, Turks and Caicos has seen a wave of new visitors since the onset of the pandemic, reaching new levels as one of the Caribbean’s most sought-after destinations. 

Indeed, the last two years were a reminder of the Caribbean’s party piece: that endless natural beauty and all those unrivaled beaches, the kind without peer anywhere else in the world. 

The centerpiece in Turks and Caicos is, of course, Grace Bay Beach, that blindingly-white-sand beach, wide and long, brimmed by sparkling turquoise and a collection of resorts. 

And there’s one resort that really exemplifies the relaxed, serene luxury of Turks and Caicos: The Sands. 

This legendary Providenciales resort is set on a prime slot on Grace Bay, with a total of 114 suites here, all either right at the edge of the beach or a short stroll away. 

Like many resorts on the island, it’s a residential resort, meaning all of the units, which range from junior suites to two-bedroom units, all with great views and residential amenities: in the junior suites, that means mini-fridges, microwaves, coffee makers and kitchenettes; and in the other rooms, full kitchens. 

Whether you’re here for a few days or a few weeks, it instantly becomes home, meaning you can stay in as long as you want or venture out every meal to sample Provo’s vibrant culinary scene. 

If you stay on property, there’s Hemingway’s, the beloved beach bar and restaurant set right at the edge of the dunes and the beach, with some great rums and marvelous locally-focused food: fish tacos, fresh grouper and, of course, key lime pie. 

There’s even the Spa Tropique, the on-site wellness center with two treatment rooms and a range of spa programs from manicures and pedicures to couples’ massages. 

But the biggest amenity is the serenity: whether you’re sitting in one of the three pools, lazing under a palapa on the Grace Bay sand or sipping on a rum punch on your terrace, the only thing you’ll ever here is the beach itself: the soothing lap of Turks and Caicos surf, the soundtrack of an uncrowded coastline. 

It’s what brought everyone here right when travel opened up again. 

And it’s why people have always come here; and why they always will. 

For more, visit Turks and Caicos. 

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