The Expedia group announced that its hotel partners in Barbados have increased their package demand with nearly 15% growth in 2016 YoY. According to the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Board, the destination welcomed more than 630,000 tourists in 2016 – a 6.7% increase compared to 2015. In conjunction with Expedia reports, top source markets for the small Caribbean nation came from the U.S., followed by Canada, UK and other Caribbean markets.
New data from the Expedia group also indicates that the United States remains the key feeder market for Barbados with a reported growth of more than 20% YoY in 2016, followed by Canada with more than 15% and Brazil with nearly 25% YoY. Mobile demand also increased to Barbados, particularly from the U.S. at 55%, UK at 35% and Canada at nearly 40% YoY in 2016.
Package bookings, which combine components like flights and hotels, typically capture the attention of higher quality travelers that spend more money, have longer lengths of stay, and book further in advance. Some destinations within Barbados that experienced noteworthy increases in package demand in 2016 included Christ Church with nearly 30% YoY and St. Peters with nearly 50%.
Value Add Promotions has allowed the local Expedia team to provide better synergies with the tourist board to benefit hotel partners. Using the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc.’s summer campaign – Brilliant Barbados Kids – as a base, the local Expedia team was able to work with the Tourism Association to expand this offer to include exclusive Expedia discounts on major attractions for non-family travel for properties participating in the overall destination campaign. The addition of Value Added Promotions resulted in the doubling of property participation in the main destination program.
The Expedia group seeks to continue to add more properties to its portfolio in 2017 and to support tourism growth in Barbados and the Caribbean region. By working with the Expedia group, hotels in Barbados gain exposure to the more than 200 websites in more than 75 countries worldwide in 35 languages, in addition to a myriad of mobile sites and apps, from brands such as Expedia®, Hotels.com®, Travelocity®, Orbitz®, Hotwire®, Egencia®, Expedia® Affiliate Network and others.
