The warmth of the Islands came north this week as Caribbean Airlines, joined by its destination partners, brought its 2015 roadshow to Toronto-area agents.
The event wrapped up the 2015 edition of the roadshow welcomed tourism representatives from Jamaica, Guyana, Grenada and Trinidad to meet with travel agents.
Valerie Murphy-Rahman, senior manager,reservations & commercial sales, said the roadshow provides an opportunity to contact agents directly.
“Quite a few people know the airline but they don’t know a lot about us,” she said. “It’s reaching out to a lot of other agents we don’t normally connect with.”
A number of developments are in store for Caribbean Airlines in 2016, she said, with the airline soon to be available for booking via Amadeus. Ticketing through the GDS will be available in December, with check-in available in March. The move to Amadeus will also see Caribbean consolidate its 7th Heaven and Caribbean Miles loyalty programs, Murphy-Rahman said.
Also taking place next year will be a complete interior remodelling in all of its aircraft which will see the planes “completely gutted” and redone with new features, including new entertainment screens, she said.
The airline continues to keep its costs down, Murphy-Rahman said, explaining that its 2015 expenses were down 50% compared to 2014. She added that Caribbean’s London-Jamaica route (which will end in January) was cut due to the high cost of maintaining the route.
However, with Trinidad established as Caribbean’s new major hub (with Jamaica serving as a secondary hub) new routes are under consideration for 2016 with the goal of growing the airline’s leisure business.