China boosts Caribbean economies with $1 billion in loans

Chinese tourism officials met with Caribbean authorities last Monday in Port of Spain, capital of Trinidad and Tobago. During the meeting, China announced it would provide Caribbean countries with $1 billion in loans to finance new infrastructure projects, making business ties between China and the Caribbean considerably stronger.

Wang Qishan, China's Vice Premier, told Chinese and Caribbean officials in Port of Spain, that loans would become available through the sate-run China Development Bank. "China cannot develop itself in isolation of the world and the world needs China for its development," he stated. One of the main sources of financial income for Caribbean countries is the tourism sector. These projects will help sustain and recover their economies as Caribbean holidays become less popular due to their increasingly higher costs.

The U.S. and Europe, both traditional sources of tourists and investments to these countries, have now reduced their usually high number of visitors and investors due to the global financial crisis. Meanwhile, China seizes the opportunity to carry out a business scheme, planned in Beijing. By providing these loans and investments, China seeks natural resources and political influence in the developing world, from Africa to Latin America.

Even though the amount of loans and investments made by China in the Caribbean are still significantly smaller than their multibillion-dollar investments in places like Africa, it could go a long way in helping the region's fragile economy at the present time and give a much-needed boost to Caribbean holidays. Wang says that trade between China and the Caribbean had grown annually by 24%, reaching $7.2 billion in 2010. The terms of the loans were discussed in the two-day-long reunion that began last Monday in Port of Spain.

China is also taking an active interest in countries like the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Cuba. As for the first, China is planning to invest over $400 million to restart a stalled beachfront resort project, which will attract more tourists to Dominican Republic holidays.

In Jamaica's case, China has already invested more than $1 billion in one of the most important ports, a conference centre, highway projects and a cricket stadium. Jamaica's Tourism Minister, Edmund Bartlett admits China's growing bonds with the Caribbean by stating that "China has become an important source of foreign direct investment for us."

Cuba is, and has been for a considerable amount of time, China's main training partner in the Caribbean. Orlando Hernandez Guillen, Vice Minister of Trade and Investment of Cuba, stated his satisfaction with the recent meeting. "China represents hope for the poorest nations of the world and its impressive development springs from its own resources... not exploiting or pillaging other nations" he explained.

Chinese influence and involvement in Cuba is more noticeable by the day, not only do the Chinese invest in resort projects to aid the Cuban tourism sector, and heighten the income Cuba holidays provide to the country's fragile economy, but they also supply Cuba with Chinese-made goods that go from buses to every-day household items.

A unit of China National Petroleum Corporation is participating in a $6 billion project to enlarge and improve an oil refinery in the Cuban city of Cienfuegos. The plan includes the construction of a liquefied natural gas terminal. China also benefits from these exchanges with Cuba; they buy nickel, sugar and other Cuban products and they produce pharmaceuticals together.

 

 

 

About the Author

Orlando Consuegra has worked on the Cuba holiday industry from its very begining, initially as a Tour Guide for Saga and Kuoni, he travelled the island helping thousands of holiday makers to make the most for their holiday in Cuba.

Praised by many as one of the best tour guides in Cuba, both for his impeccable knowledge and his very correct manners, Orlando got promoted to Guides Coordinator in the Cubanacan Travel Agency. During this period Orlando helped organise fam trips for European tour operators as part of the insertion of Cuba in the world's holiday industry.

Promoted again as General Supervisor of The Holiday Place in Cuba, Orlando helped build very strong relationships with all the hotels in Cuba while enforcing a very high level of service and attention to all company's clients.

Orlando writes a blog "Know Cuba holidays like Us" at The Cuba Experience website where he shares his deep knowledge in Cuba and its holiday industry.

Luxury Caribbean holidays on the rise following economic slump

Despite the worldwide economic slump it has been reported by Ricky Skerritt, chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) that luxury holidays to the Caribbean have been steadily increasing in popularity among travellers from all corners of the world.

Mr Skerritt also confirmed that non-luxury leisure travel to the Caribbean was, in general, reporting significant gains this year. He made this statements when addressing delegates at the first CTO-organised State of the Industry Conference which took place in Le Domaine hotel, in the French Caribbean island of St Martin.

According to him "year-over-year visitor arrivals to the Caribbean reflect a solid across-the-board increase".

But despite the success of Caribbean holidays against the harsh economic climate, he also emphasised on the fact that the Caribbean is still facing many challenges from the aftermath effects of the global economic recession.

"Visitor numbers are up but per-visitor expenditures are down, the length of stay is shrinking, and to prosper we must provide value for travel, affordable airlift and cost-effective marketing strategies," he explained to the audience attending the event.

He went on to add how the conference's theme, Winning in a Competitive Environment, was very accurate and "appropriate, given the region is competing more and more with other destinations around the world".

British Airways chief executive Keith Williams had earlier outlined one of the major concerns facing the Caribbean holidays market, blaming Air Passenger Duty in the United Kingdom for the decision to cut services to the region.

Organised in collaboration with the St Martin Tourist Office, The State of the Industry Conference aims to gather tourism interests from the public and private travel sectors in order to tackle a number of critical issues including overcoming the hurdles to intra-regional travel, how to use limited resources to the greatest advantage, how to influence the affluent luxury travellers, and how to remain truly competitive in today's tough travel market.

Communication Means Business, one of the event's main sessions, will be paying specific attention to the value of clear, accurate communication and spread of information around the world, using a wide and varied array of global media channels on a worldwide scale.

This Caribbean travel event builds on the success of the Leadership Strategy Conference that was held in Barbados last year, and satisfies a growing need felt among regional members, including travel agent partners, for such a gathering, annually.

All general conference sessions this year were preceded by a series of meetings held on 14th and 15th September, which gathered tourism ministers, directors of tourism, commissioners and private sector tourism partners.

 

About the Author

Born in Cuba and having lived and studied in London for over 5 years, Susana is a recent university graduate with a passion for travel who has taken much inspiration from the exotic destination she has visited throughout the years.

Upon graduating she has ultimately come to join an important UK tour operator specialised in Cuba holidays to share her love for travel with holidaymakers as the company's very own travel reporter and news editor. Her interest in the tourism industry was formed from a very early age, following her father's footsteps, a travel representative and manager, who worked for Cuba's national air carrier and whose travelling job was also the reason she found herself travelling from an early age and living in different parts of the world with her family.

Having travelled extensively herself, throughout her home country in Cuba, Europe and other faraway destinations in Asia and the Middle East, including exotic hot spots like China and Egypt, she continues to nourish and build upon her tourism knowledge to bring our travel readers with a fresh outlook on the latest happenings in the holiday industry.