As part of Travel Agent’s new “Five Questions with…” series, in which we put some of the travel industry’s biggest players on the spot, we chatted with Patricia Maher, CEO of the Grenada Tourism Authority.
Here are the highlights from that Q&A:
1. What’s the most exciting thing that’s happened at your company this year?
A new Kimpton Hotel which belongs to the Intercontinental Group is coming to Grenada and we are only the second island in the Caribbean (the Cayman Islands is the other) to get this luxury boutique hotel.
The Grenada Tourism Authority is excited about this international brand hotel choosing Grenada as the destination for their Caribbean expansion. We are looking forward to this hotel opening in early 2019 and attracting other international hotel brands to our 'Pure Grenada, the Spice of the Caribbean.'
2. What’s trending? What is the consumer asking for?
Hiking trails and connecting with locals, so we at the Grenada Tourism Authority are looking at expanding our offering for hiking companies to establish businesses with trained tour guides in all the parishes in Grenada, Carriacou and Petit Martinique. The best way to discover the nature of Grenada and learn about the lifestyle is on foot with a local tour guide.
3. What is the most challenging issue of being in the travel space right now?
Grenada is a small tourism destination on the world stage and traditionally we market to the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Germany, so the challenge is to reach the wider world and let the explorers know that we are a smaller version of Jamaica or Cuba with the friendliest people in the Caribbean.
4. Where is your favorite place to travel and why?
When you live on a tropical island with beautiful beaches, bountiful waterfalls and lush green countryside, my favorite place to travel is to great cities around the world. Having lived in the heart of Europe in Germany, I travelled to many European cities and having worked all over the Caribbean, I have been to many islands, so I like to visit far flung places like Dubai and Singapore. Japan is on my bucket list. I always look forward to coming back to my island home, Grenada.
5. Where are you off to next? Any personal info or news you’d like to share?
I am invited on an inaugural cruise on Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Joy from Shanghai, China, to Kochi, Japan, and back to Shanghai, China, in June.
Visit www.grenadagrenadines.com and keep visiting www.travelagentcentral.com for all your Caribbean travel news. Be sure to follow Travel Agent’s Joe Pike on Twitter @TravelPike and Instagram @pike5260.