The Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority is upping its presence in Germany in a drive to reinstate airlift and increase tourism arrivals from the European market.
CEO of the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority, Colin C. James, UK & Europe Director of Tourism Cherrie Osborne travelled to Germany, for ITB Berlin, the first edition of the exhibition since the pandemic. ITB Berlin is the world’s largest tourism and travel trade fair.
Germany is Europe’s largest travel market. With the Caribbean being Germany’s third most popular long-haul destination after the Indian Ocean and USA, ABTA CEO Colin C. James said, “the Tourism Authority’s is prioritizing increasing lift from this region, in order to benefit from the market’s strong economy and the high consumer demand.”
“In 2022, 21% of arrivals into Antigua and Barbuda came from Europe with at least 5% from the German-speaking markets with a further 56,000 or 15% of our cruise arrivals from Germany alone.”
“There is great consumer interest in Germany for Antigua and Barbuda. We have increased our marketing presence in the market and are confident that with the needed airlift we will be in a better position to grow the market substantially”, the ABTA CEO said.
During the show, the team conducted highly productive meetings with Condor, Eurowings, KLM and NEOS to discuss the future possibilities of flights to the destination for the winter 2023/2024 season. The discussions are ongoing with positive results to be announced.
The team also conducted a series of trade and consumer media interviews and re-engaged major tour operators such as DER Touristik and FTI to continue to raise awareness of the destination’s commitment to marketing initiatives.
“Antigua and Barbuda is working assiduously to grow its European market post-pandemic, which will help to complement the business coming out of the UK. It’s well known that Europeans travel for a minimum of ten to fourteen nights and prop up the summer business”, said Director of Tourism UK and Europe Cherrie Osborne.
The Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority was joined by private sector partners including Cocos, Elite Islands Resorts, HBK Villas, Blue Sea Latin American Traveller as well as Economic Envoy Ralf Hansen and Ambassador-at-Large Bert Kirchner.