By Alexander Britell

Another one of the top hotels in St Barth is planning a relaunch.

The ultra-luxe Hotel Le Toiny is planning to reopen Oct. 15, the property announced in a statement this week.

Reservations are already open for the property, which has been closed since Hurricane Irma.

The boutique hotel has also announced plans to open with eight new villa suites, the first major expansion for Le Toiny since the property first opened in 1992.

Other changes include updates to the cabana and restaurant, while the hotel’s original 14 villa suites will be fully restored “with elegant touches to add a dose of drama,” according to the property.

Hotel Le Toiny will also be adding a new bar to its Beach Club, while the hotel’s fleet of vehicles will be upgraded to Land Rover Defenders and electric cars.

The post St Barth’s Le Toiny to Reopen in October appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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By Fatima Thompson

The first month of the year is usually the start of the high performance season in the Caribbean, but hotel figures came in at their lowest January level in years, according to the latest data from STR.

Occupancy was nearly flat (-0.6%) compared with last January, but the absolute level (68.5%) was the lowest for the month since 2011. Even as supply growth has tapered, this was the Caribbean’s third consecutive month of year-over-year occupancy declines. At the same time, a 2.2% drop in average daily rate (ADR) was the largest for any January since 2009, and the absolute level ($232.01) was the lowest for the month since 2014. As a result, revenue per available room (RevPAR) dipped 2.8% to its lowest absolute level for a January ($158.91) since 2013.

Bucking the trend was the Cayman Islands, which experienced the largest increase in ADR (+18.8%) and the second-largest increase in occupancy (+14.8%), while Trinidad and Tobago showed the only other double-digit rise in occupancy (+12.5%).

When examining performance of the islands where STR maintains a sufficient reporting sample, we saw that Puerto Rico experienced the strongest increase in occupancy (+18.0% to 76.5%) and the second-largest increase in RevPAR (+30.7% to $169.84).

A sizable decline in supply (-10.0%) helped lift that performance, but the numbers are still attributable to post-storm demand from residents who have been displaced from their homes and are receiving refuge in hotels, along with workers and relief companies on the island working to rebuild the infrastructure.

The message has remained consistent that the Caribbean is open for business following a devastating hurricane season. The region’s hotels are no doubt hoping for better performance, especially with peak season on the books.

Fatima Thompson is the Associate Director of Business Development, Hotels, Caribbean & Mexico for STR.

For questions regarding hotel data reporting in the Caribbean, please contact Fatima at fatima@str.com.


The post Cayman Islands, Trinidad Seeing Hotel Occupancy Surge appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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By the Caribbean Journal staff

St Maarten-based Regional Caribbean air carrier Winair has launched a new way to get around the Dutch Caribbean.

This week, the carrier launched the new “CN Express,” a flight aimed at connecting St Maarten, St Eustatius and Bonaire.

The flight is the product of a partnership between Winair and the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The flights will operate Mondays and Fridays, connecting the three Dutch territories with direct air service.

“These flights will enhance tourism, business development and have offered employment to our people after the devastating effects of hurricanes IRMA and MARIA. Winair thanks their shareholders, its employees, PJIAE, the various Civil Aviation Authorities and most of all our customers by offering safe and dependable air transportation to these vital markets.” said M.D. Cleaver, President & CEO of Winair.

The post Winair Launches New St Maarten-Bonaire Flights appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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By the Caribbean Journal staff

In the biggest hotel transaction in the Caribbean so far in 2018, Playa Hotels and Resorts has acquired a substantial portfolio of resorts in Jamaica.

The company has acquired the Hilton Rose Hall, the Jewel Runaway Bay, the Jewel Dunn’s River, the Jewel Paradise Cove and an 88-room hotel tower and spa at the Jewel Grande Montego Bay.

Playa will manage all five properties, and will manage the entire Jewel Grande resort at closing, according to a release.

The deal also includes two developable land sites with a potential density of up to 700 rooms.

The Hilton Rose Hall.

Under the terms of the sale, Sagicor is receiving 20 million shares of Playa common stock and $100 million in cash. That represents a total of more than $300 million USD.

Playa is best known as the owner and operator of Hyatt’s Ziva and Zilara all-inclusive properties in the Caribbean, including in Montego Bay and Cancun.

“Playa’s development track record, management expertise, strong regional presence and deep customer relationships will contribute significantly to improving the Sagicor portfolio performance,” said Bruce Wardinski, Chairman and CEO of Playa Hotels & Resorts.  “Most importantly, this transaction provides Playa with multi-year built-in growth opportunities, which we expect will drive outstanding financial returns,” Wardinski continued.

Playa also recently launched resorts under the Panama Jack brand, and took over management of the Sanctuary Cap Cana in the Dominican Republic late last year.

The post Playa Acquires Five Hotel Properties in Jamaica appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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By Dana Niland
CJ Contributor

Jamaica is reporting a big increase in visitor arrivals to the island for the first two months of the year.

The announcement came from Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett at a cocktail reception at the Terra Nova in Kingston this weekend.

“We ended January at 12 percent over last year, and February is still going ahead of last year,” Bartlett said.

The reception was hosted by the Jamaica Tourist Board in celebration of Minister Bartlett being named Caribbean Tourism Minister of the Year 2017 by Caribbean Journal.

Data from the JTB showed that a record 4.3 million tourists visited Jamaica in 2017, providing a revenue flow of $3 billion.

our partners, and they are understanding that what we are doing is to maintain Jamaica

Bartlett said that the tourism industry is a “significant driver” of Jamaica’s economy, noting that it has been the fastest growing sector, and the largest contributor to GDP, over the last 10 years.

He said the industry employs 10 percent of the global workforce, and accounts for more than 30 percent of trade in services.

“Tourism today has become a mammoth industry, that has been embraced by more than 79 countries,” he said.

The post Jamaica Tourism Surging So Far in 2018 appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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