Recommend December 2013 - (Page 55)
villa and a 4-bedroom garden villa. The Dominican Republic's Kosher
Crown Villas, a Lifestyle Holidays Vacation Resort (lifestylekosher
vacations.com), is going gangbusters, too. But how unique dare we
go? What if, say, your clients wants kosher catering and an underwater
ceremony? Answer: the Curaçao Marriott Resort (marriott.com).
That's customization.
girlfriend getaways
So far, I've avoided putting my foot in my mouth with last year's predictions,
but maybe not on this one. Let me start with a confession:
Whereas I've personally experienced every other trend in the Caribbean,
I have never participated in a girlfriend getaway. Disappointing,
I know. (But then again, some of my colleagues at other publications
have never gone deep-sea fishing with a stogie in their mouth. So
there.)
This much is clear: Whereas properties continue to market girlfriend
getaway packages, they can no longer claim that the ladies-only vacation
is a radically innovative notion. The buzz has moved on to "green"
and other trends mentioned above, which may help explain why
2012's steady stream of eblasts about BFF trips dwindled in 2013.
Also, while many women still take girlfriend getaways, they don't all
buy Girlfriend Getaway packages. As happens when planning a wedding,
they now demand customization. Not a bad thing; that's where
travel agents come in.
So should girlfriend getaways no longer be part of a "trends that are
here to stay story"? Too soon to tell, but if so, allow me to revisit my
dentist for a refresher course on removing my foot from my mouth. ●
more trends?
DECOR: Time was almost every Caribbean hotel featured
either formal colonial, casual Caribbean, or uninspired
functional style, but then contemporary villas and hotels
(e.g. Amanyara) showed a new way. Now, for example,
the San Juan Marriott Resort's dramatically renovated
rooms feature a modern, urbane design whose beige
tones evoke the beach, but with abstract subtlety. Will
scores of other hotels replace Chippendale or playroom
pastels with sleek chic?
INCREASED ACCEPTANCE OF GAY VISITORS: The
Dutch and French islands have long been pretty LGBTfriendly,
but some English islands had an iffy reputation.
These days there's at least one hotel on almost every island
that welcomes gay visitors and commitment ceremonies,
and even the Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis
has spoken out on behalf of gays.
FESTIVALS R US: "Today almost every island has some
sort of music festival-jazz, blues, reggae, etc. Jamaica,
Barbados, the Caribbean Sea Jazz Festival in Aruba, the
Curaçao North Sea Jazz Festival, St. Kitts, Aruba Soul
Beach, and others," says travel agent Ann Cappa, A.C.C.,
D.S., of Caribbean and Beyond. This dovetails nicely with
an undeniable trend discussed elsewhere in this story: the
eagerness of hotel guests to go forth into the island.
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Listing of you and your company as a Guadeloupe
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recommend December 2013
Editor's Notes
Hotel Desk: Canyon Ranch
Tour Talk: Insight Vacations
17th Annual Recommend Readers' Choice Awards Winners
Cruising 2013
Discovering North America
Caribbean Trends
Anguilla Travel Agent Specialist Program
Asia & The South Pacific in the Rearview Mirror
Mexico 2013
Latin America in 2013 and Beyond
Africa + The Middle East Continue to Make Stides
Nostalgic for Europe
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