Decrease in flights troubles the Caribbean

Could airline cutbacks send Caribbean beachgoers elsewhere this winter?

That's the growing concern of Caribbean tourism industry leaders as they grapple with a double whammy of reduced air service and a slumping U.S. economy.

A reduction in air service -- the only way for most Americans to reach the Caribbean's white-sand beaches -- could make the journey less convenient and airfares more expensive, ultimately discouraging trips.

"Every seat that we lose is an opportunity for a tourist to come to the Caribbean," says Enrique De Marchena Kaluche, president of the Caribbean Hotel Association and co-chair of the Caribbean Tourism Development Co.

For December, U.S. airlines scheduled 17% less service from the lower 48 states to the Caribbean islands, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, compared with December 2007, according to an analysis of OAG flight schedules. Other findings:

*Of the five carriers that ...