CARIBBEAN: Karisma Hotels & Resorts To Expand To St. Lucia And Barbados

Mandy Chomat, chief sales and marketing officer at Karisma Hotels & Resorts, says the all-inclusive company is planning to expand its Margaritaville, an All-Inclusive Experience, by Karisma brand to the islands of Barbados and St. Lucia.

There’s serious thought about expanding to St. Lucia and Barbados, said Chomat.

Karisma Hotels & Resorts is in discussions to expand Margaritaville into these islands over the next few years.”

Chomat also said travelers could expect new Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts properties throughout the Caribbean as well. That brand first debuted in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic in 2016.

Karisma is scouting Barbados and St. Lucia, along with other major island destinations, for Margaritaville, An All-Inclusive Experience, by Karisma, as well as Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts,says Chomat.

We’re looking at island destinations throughout the Caribbean, including Antigua, the Bahamas, and Grenada, evaluating airlift and infrastructure, among other variables.

In Mexico, the company is opening the El Cielo Winery & Resort in Valle De Guadalupe, Baja California this summer. In 2019, the company is spotlighting the Riviera Maya once again with the opening of Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Riviera Maya and Margaritaville, an All-Inclusive Experience, by Karisma.

In addition to our continued expansion in Riviera Maya, Karisma is looking at Baja California, Vallarta and Huatulco in Mexico, said Chomat.

Later this summer, we will also introduce El Cielo Winery & Resort in Mexico’s Valle de Guadalupe, the new Napa Valley.

Although the new Margaritaville, an All-Inclusive Experience, by Karisma brand is expected to be the most popular amongst Millennials, Chomat has noted in the past that Jimmy Buffett, the musician who made the Margaritaville song and brand famous worldwide, has fans or Parrot Heads, that span generations.

St. Lucia and Barbados are globally recognized destinations that appeal to leisure travelers, said Chomat.

The vibe of Margaritaville lends itself beautifully to these islands and others as it’s a state of mind, inviting guests to unwind and enjoy themselves in paradise.

And several Caribbean travel experts TravelPulse spoke with agree.

It will be interesting to see how the Margaritaville concept pans out because I think it will be on a level of luxury that many people wouldn't expect when they think about the brand Margaritaville, said Anthony Tucker, vice president and general manager at the All Inclusive Outlet in Georgetown, Kentucky.

So often people only think of the restaurant or casino in Las Vegas, but the proposed plans are really going to cater towards a luxury-centric customer who wants to just have a blast on vacation.

I think when they open in Cancun/Riviera Maya it will be eye opening and their success there will carry over into even further success in St. Lucia and Barbados.

Ryan Doncsecz of VIP Vacations, Inc. in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania also thinks the plans will greatly benefit Barbados, which he thinks is in need of another new, all-inclusive resort.

Another all inclusive resort in Barbados is huge, said Doncsecz. Sandals Resorts International already has proved that an all-inclusive can be a huge success on an island that is predominantly EP.

Finally, St. Lucia getting another brand name shows their dedication to bringing new and exciting experiences to the island.

Petra Roach, U.S. director of the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI), says the presence of a Karisma resort on island would help increase the island's presence amongst Millennials.

Hotel investment is critical to future growth, said Roach, and the Karisma brand brings with it a strong Millennial customer base and a focus on the culinary experience of the visitor - both of which are integral to Barbados’ overarching tourism strategy.

Karisma also remains committed to expanding its relationships in existing destinations like Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and Mexico’s Riviera Maya.

In fact, Karisma Hotels and Resorts recently revealed that it is planning to develop a brand new luxury resort, entertainment and retail complex in Jamaica.

The Sugar Cane Jamaica project will be located near Ocho Rios.

It’s the most ambitious development in the country’s history, representing a $1 billion investment and plans for 10 hotels encompassing 5,000 rooms over the next decade, said Chomat.

Karisma first expanded to the Caribbean in late 2013 when it had a soft opening for its first Jamaica resort, Azul Sensatori Jamaica. Karisma then expanded to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic in 2016 in the form of its popular family brand Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts.

The smaller islands of the Caribbean are a fast growing portion of our business right now, particularly in St. Lucia, so I think those destinations are a perfect fit, said Tucker.


Tourism Observer

Passenger Sent To Wrong Country

A Ghanaian man has taken a 3000-kilometre detour after getting a ticket for the wrong plane in South America.

Emmanuel Akomanyi was attempting to travel to Guyana to undertake a life-changing scholarship to study medicine.

All was going to plan when he safely made it from Ghana to Guarulhos International Airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

But it all went downhill from there as he tried to buy a ticket to Guyana.

He thought he correctly purchased a seat to the country on South America's Caribbean coast, but when he got off at the other end he was in the Brazilian city of Goiania - almost 3,000km away from where he needed to go.

He was forced to spend a week in his new destination, supported by strangers as he had no money.

The airline which flew him there eventually offered him a free ticket to Guyana.

You would think such incidents would be rare, but they were surprisingly common.

A United Kingdom couple boarded a plane which they thought was going to the southern Caribbean island of Grenada in 2014 - but instead they landed much sooner than they thought they should have, disembarking in the ancient city of Granada, Spain.

Remarkably, the same mix-up happened only a month earlier, except this time UK woman Lamenda Kingdon ended up on the 10-hour flight to Grenada instead of the short trip to Granada.

Other incidents include:

• A woman who wanted to travel to Dakar, Senegal, ended up in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

• An 85-year-old woman ended up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, after she booked a Southwest Airlines flight to Fort Myers, Florida because of an airline error.

• A VietJet airplane that took off from Hanoi landed at Da Lat airport, 140km away from Cam Ranh Airport, where it was supposed to be.

• A Southwest Airlines plane landed at a small airport in Taney County, Missouri, approximately 12km from where it was meant to land at Branson Airport. Taney County had a much shorter runway and the plane had to brake hard to stop before the end.

• A 21-year-old American student found himself on a plane to Auckland, when he just wanted to get to Oakland, California. According to the LA Times, he blamed it on the Kiwi accent: ""They didn't say Auckland. They said Oakland. They talk different."

CARIBBEAN: CTO To Honour Two Airlines Serving The Caribbean

The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) will honour Air Canada and Caribbean Airlines for their decades of service to the Caribbean.

The CTO will present awards to the two airlines during Caribbean Week Canada for longstanding service from that market. Both airlines have demonstrated commitment and dedication to the growth and development of Caribbean tourism by providing up to six decades of service, according to the CTO’s director of USA Inc Sylma Brown.

“Caribbean Airlines has demonstrated continued dedication to the growth and development of Caribbean tourism by providing more than five decades of intra-regional and international service, while Air Canada has shown its commitment to the region’s tourism sector by providing over six decades of outstanding uninterrupted service to the Caribbean,” said Ms. Brown, head of the CTO’s New York office which is charged with organizing Caribbean Week Canada.

The decision to recognize the two carriers was made following discussions with CTO member countries’ national tourist office representatives in Canada who felt strongly that both airline partners should be among the entities recognized during Caribbean Week for their strong partnership , Ms. Brown revealed.

The awards will be presented at the Caribbean Tourism Awards Luncheon on Tuesday 17 November at Rosewater in Toronto.

Caribbean Week Canada is supported by Air Canada Vacations, Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Caribbean Airlines, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Hibiscus International, Jamaica, Kalinago Beach Resort (Grenada), Puerto Rico, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, The Atrebor Group, Transat Tours Canada, Trinidad & Tobago and Turks & Caicos.

NIGERIA: Visa Free Countries For Holders Of Nigerian Passports

As a Nigerian citizen with a Nigerian passport, there are certain countries which do not require a visa or a visa-lottery upon entry so long as you have your Nigerian passport.

However, for some of these countries, there is an estimated amount of time you are expected to spend before a visa will be demanded for. The period of days for which you can stay varies from country to country and then you would have to obtain a visa, at least this is not like a gamble when you play the visa- lottery.

The easiest way to know the visa free countries is to list all the countries you may visit visa free is to split them into continents. In the Americas you may access Barbados for six months, Dominica for 21 days, Grenada, Haiti, Saint Kitts and Nevis for three months and Turks and Caicos Islands for 30 days.

In Asia you can freely arrive in the following countries to which you will then be issued with a visa once in the country. In Azerbaijan, Laos, Macau and Timor-Leste you are granted with a 30 day visa. In Bangladesh you are granted a 90 day visa.

In Oceania you may access Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Vanuatu and Palau for 30 days, Cook Islands for 31 days, Tuvalu for one month, Samoa for 60 days and Fiji for four months.

In Africa Nigerian passport holders can visit the following countries visa-free; Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Chad, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger Senegal and Uganda, basically all the West African countries.

Please note that this posted was last modified on the 5th of March 2014. Kosovo is no longer visa free for Nigerians and many African countries.

You can also get visa-on-arrival in Kenya.