Caribbean tourism officials are looking toward the winter season with a great deal of optimism. The growth that started in 2003 has continued and the president of the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA), Berthia Parle has said that competitive ticket and hotel prices are making the region more attractive to visitors. Parle said the region is enjoying an unprecedented amount of visitor traffic from both scheduled flights and chartered companies. "I believe the resurgence we saw last year and that surpassed 2000 which was considered the benchmark year for all, I think it's certainly looking positive at this time," she said. "Certainly for 2004 we saw an overall increase of five percent over 2003 so I think - barring any unforeseen circumstances - the outlook looks very positive." Parle said that different countries in the region are adopting various strategies for attracting tourists and by and large, they are moving away from the sand, sea and sun image that has come to define the Caribbean over the years. "I think we recognise that people need a lot more than sea and sand and there's an effort to market the region and we've seen a lot of nature heritage tourism being sold, sports tourism is also becoming big business in the region leading up to the 2007 Cricket World Cup," she said. "There has been a shift away from the sand, sea and sun into a lot of these niche markets. Niche markets "Some islands are looking at what is called 'wellness tourism' or health tourism and there is a big marketing initiative as far as spas are concerned. I think the Caribbean has some of the world's best outdoor spas using the natural ingredients and natural minerals found in some of the volcanoes and wells, and some of that is being utilised now." Parle who is the first woman to hold the presidency of the CHA once again called on Caricom leaders to give tourism a more prominent place on the agenda. She said some leaders are not taking the industry seriously enough. "I think Caricom has got to be serious and I want to say that not every single prime minister has recognised the importance of the industry to the various economies and put their money where their mouth is, a lot of lip service is still being paid," she said. "I think some of the issues that directly impact on tourism need greater urgent attention. Tourism needs more than ten minutes on the Caricom agenda, it should be something that should be permanently on the agenda as to how to move forward and how to maximise the gains derived from tourism for the benefit of the people of the region." The winter season which officially runs from December 15 and ends on April 15 has traditionally been the most profitable for the Caribbean tourism industry. Reprinted from bbccaribbean.com