French Caribbean Sensations ignites Toronto

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

When we think about vacationing in the Caribbean, there are some common destinations that often come to mind: Jamaican, Bahamas, Bermuda, Turks & Caicos Islands.

Now there is no doubt. These are beautiful islands. Today, allow us to present to you two hidden treasures that are not as commercialized as other Caribbean destination: Guadeloupe and Martinique.

On February 11^th, 2020, the travel community was whisked away for a night of food, fun, and fantasy at the French Caribbean Sensations, hosted by the Guadeloupe Islands Tourist Board, and the Martinique Tourism Authority. The prestigious event was held at Hotel X Toronto, located at 111 Princes Boulevard.

Imagine if you can the experience of having two different Caribbean fantasies in one room. The Guadeloupe team, and the Martinique team partnered with their suppliers: Club Med, Air Canada, Air Canada Vacations, and cruise liners to provide exciting information about the islands growing popularity.

It was nice to see the CEO of the Martinique Tourism Authority, Francois Baltus Languedoc, who had travelled all the way from Martinique to meet the tourism community here in Toronto.

“The reason that we have organized such an event is to acknowledge that Toronto is a priority for us. I have a dream. I hope that maybe in one or two years maximum, we can have a direct flight from Toronto to Fort-de-France. Right now, Toronto is our second market in Canada.”

Martinique is celebrating their 10-year anniversary of Air Canada’s direct flight from Montreal to Fort-de-France next week.

“Canada is one of our biggest markets. We’ve been in Quebec for a long time – we are celebrating our 10-year anniversary next week of a direct flight with Air Canada from Montreal to Fort-de-France.”

Martinique is a beautiful island located in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies. In 2019, they welcomed more than 20,000 Canadians, up 45% from 2018. Amazing news is that a growing number of travellers (20%) are coming from Toronto.

Martinique is everything that you can imagine in a destination: beautiful beaches, tall palm trees, a plethora of fragrant fauna. Martinique has become a thriving art scene, with incredible architecture, delectable dishes (which all guests were able to enjoy that night), and some of the best rum in the world.

Guadeloupe has begun to gain some popularity with seasoned travellers. Last year, the island welcomed more than two million passengers, up 2% over 2018. In the year 2020, Guadeloupe is ready to show the world just how special they are. After watching a video showing all the blues that there are to see in Guadeloupe, Patricia Azor (Director of Tourism/ Islands of Guadeloupe), highlighted their direction

“Right now we have 29,000 passengers from Montreal to Guadeloupe, but we want to see a 20% increase within the next year. Industry events like this one will help us reach that goal.”

Both islands were represented beautifully, both visual, and verbally. Déborah Coffre (Representative of the Tourism Authority of the Islands of Guadeloupe), and Muriel Wiltord, Director (Americas of the Martinique Promotion Bureau) shared cultural greetings, stimulating stories, and the many reasons why Canadians should visit the sister islands in 2020.

At the end of the formal presentations, all guests were treated to a buffet filled with tastes from the islands. It became an incredible networking experience, and it looked like everyone had come prepared to share, to talk, and to listen. The teams had done it. They had created the perfect setting that led to tremendous communication opportunities, which allowed for relationship building.

From unique experiences like sleeping in a tree house, to camping out in an air-conditioned bubble space, Martinique and Guadeloupe are now offering a variety of: accommodations, inclusive hotel offers, and vacation packages that will suit any traveller’s budget and tastes. You can learn more about these beautiful islands by visiting Guadeloupe at guadeloupe-islands.com, and Martinique at us.martinique.org.