Annual ASTA Showcase Encourages Travel Advisors to “Tell the Deeper Caribbean Story”

About 300 journey advisors gathered for ASTA’s 2025 Caribbean Showcase, held at Sandals South Coast, on Aug. 23 to 26 to study extra about “the best warm weather destination on planet Earth,” within the phrases of Jamaica Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett. 

One key message from the week was that the Caribbean is extra than simply lovely seashores, and advisors ought to lean into the pattern of experiential journey when reserving the Caribbean for his or her shoppers. 

“We are not just asking you to sell vacations, we are asking you to tell our story to the traveler who wants to connect,” Dona Regis-Prosper, CEO of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), informed a ballroom of journey advisors in Jamaica on Aug. 25. “We ask you to create the right match between the traveler and the destination, not just the traveler who is looking to check a box.” 

The Caribbean is comprised of 26 distinctive international locations, so there may be actually so much to study. Eight tourism ministers and greater than 40 journey suppliers attended to provide shows and meet with advisors on the 4^th annual convention, which featured panel discussions, a commerce present, networking alternatives, and extra. 

“This is a very important education opportunity for our members to come and understand all that the Caribbean has to offer,” mentioned ASTA President and CEO Zane Kerby. “There’s a tremendous amount of excitement because there’s a record number of people coming from the U.S. to the Caribbean.” 

Beyond “Sun, Sand, and Sea” 

With greater than 18,000 members and counting, ASTA’s assist of the journey advisor occupation ensures they continue to be a distinguished power within the economic system. That has, in flip, helped the Caribbean vastly in its pandemic restoration over the previous few years. 

“Travel advisors are doing brisk business, and they’re providing an extremely valuable service to the traveling public,” Kerby mentioned at a press convention through the week. “And that is, more and more, driving them to recommend wonderful destination here.” 

Bartlett underscored that sentiment with some statistics. He mentioned that ASTA members account for 80% of all journey bought within the Caribbean from the United States. The whole Caribbean area has additionally now seen a 6.9% enhance in tourism arrivals in comparison with pre-pandemic ranges. 

The foundation of this success lies in North Americans in search of a close-by getaway, in an English-speaking nation, the place they’ll take pleasure in what the tourism ministers known as “the three S’s: sun, sand, and sea.” While this may all the time be the inspiration of Caribbean tourism, new tendencies have begun taking form in recent times and at the moment are extra urgent than ever. 

“Beyond the traditional sun, sand, and sea, a growing number of visitors are seeking to immerse themselves in our culture, our food, our music, and our communities,” Bartlett mentioned. 

Regis-Prosper requested advisors to promote “to the traveler that is seeking authenticity, not just amenities; to the traveler who is willing to get to know us and spend locally.” 

“We need you to tell the deeper Caribbean story,” she mentioned. “To guide travelers to our fishing villages, mountain trails, community art galleries, local food and sports, reggae jam sessions, carnivals, and festivals.” 

Her remarks had been echoed by each tourism minister all through the convention, from the international locations of Jamaica Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Turks and Caicos, and Grenada, who every expressed that sustainability and bespoke, genuine experiences can be paramount to their continued success.  

Experiencing the Caribbean Firsthand 

Travel advisors skilled the Caribbean – extra particularly, Jamaica – firsthand all through the convention by means of web site visits, excursions, and excursions. During their keep at Sandals South Coast, they loved specialty cocktails made with native spirits, leisure from native performers, and off-property actions. 

“There’s obviously a great affinity for all things Caribbean – the watersports, the gastronomy – there’s so much going on here that it has to offer,” Kerby mentioned. 

On Aug. 26, advisors break up up and both toured numerous resorts – together with Couples Swept Away and Sandals and Beaches Resorts – or went on an Island Routes tour of their selecting: a catamaran cruise and snorkeling, ATV using and ziplining, or visiting YS Falls and Appleton Estate Rum Tour. 

To spherical out the 4 days of Caribbean enjoyable, ASTA and Sandals held a farewell dinner on the seashore, the place they gave away greater than two dozen free registrations to imminent ASTA occasions and Sandals resort stays, so advisors can see much more of the Caribbean for themselves. 

The ASTA Caribbean Showcase will return subsequent 12 months, although the date and placement haven’t but been introduced. Sandals Resorts has dedicated to internet hosting the occasion at its properties by means of 2031, in response to Gary Sadler, EVP of gross sales and trade relations at Unique Vacations, Sandals’ mother or father firm. 

During dinner Tuesday, Sadler thanked the ASTA crew “for making this ASTA Caribbean Showcase such a very historic event.” 

“Thank you for bringing this event,” he mentioned. “It’s about bookings, and it’s about demonstrating the partnership that Sandals has with the travel industry, so we are forever indebted.” 

Earlier that day, Sadler famous that for the primary time, a tourism minister from a rustic with out a Sandals or Beaches resort – St. Lucia’s Marsha T. Henderson – attended the convention, exhibiting the affect the convention has made on the Caribbean as an entire, as effectively.