Decrease in flights troubles the Caribbean

0 Comments | USA TODAY, June, 2008 | by Barbara De Lollis and Barbara Hansen

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...