ON the Caribbean end, what the population sees are the millions of tourists usually escaping the icy chill of the northern climes, to frolic in the tempting blue waters of the Caribbean sea and laze away on its alluring beaches.

Before all that happens, however, there is a group of professionals called travel advisors — previously travel agents — who do the slogging work of persuading the visitors to choose one or more of the many Caribbean islands, hopefully to have the time of their lives.

Fortunately, attracting guests to the region is not so hard, according to the top-performing travel advisors, most of whom sell Sandals vacations and are rewarded with membership in the resort’s rarified Chairman’s Royal Club (CRC) Diamond Elite. It takes 500 or more bookings per year to achieve this coveted status.

“We have dedicated ourselves to selling Sandals exclusively in the Caribbean because of its strong reputation. It’s a perfect partner,” says American Mandy Litterini who teams up with husband Roger to run Litterini Travel out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The duo was among 500 travel advisors at last fortnight’s week-long Sandals Travel Advisor Rewards (STAR) Awards at Sandals St Vincent and the Grenadines, Buccament Bay, in the eastern Caribbean island.

“Guests love them, and we couldn’t be more pleased with the support we get from Sandals,” Mandy tells the Jamaica Observer. It’s an experience shared by six Chairman’s Royal Club Diamond Elite members who spoke with the newspaper.

Litterini Travel has been in the business for 10 years and began selling Sandals in 2017, employing a staff of 50 with a wide array of skills. Like all travel advisors, the COVID-19 pandemic was disastrous for business.

“But I never stopped travelling and telling people that it was safe to travel. As a result, we came back stronger than before the pandemic. This year will be a record year for us,” says Mandy.

It will also be a record year for Honeymoons.com which has been in the travel business for the past five years, according to Jim Campbell of Concord, New Hampshire, who specialises in honeymoons, as his company’s name suggests.

Campbell too recalls the tough pandemic period but also that from a real low point the business has roared back since 2021. The website gets an average of 5,000 visitors per day, which translates to a million guests per year in the Caribbean. More people are travelling and spending more because they felt cooped up during the pandemic, he says.

“Sandals are, by far, our biggest partner. They are a sweet spot for honeymooners who are attracted to the variety of resorts,” Campbell adds.

Matt Garton of Creative Travel Brands made the trek from Denver, Colorado. His company started selling Sandals vacations in 2012, two years after entering the business. He was on a catamaran with a bunch of travel advisors when he asked them why they sold Sandals.

“Because we don’t get complaints from the guests. That did it for us. We have not looked back. The lion’s share of our bookings is with Sandals. They take very good care of us,” Garton discloses.

He recalls that Sandals was a blessing during the pandemic, noting how they worked with the airlines and governments, and maintained their communication with travel advisors. There was a lot more online presence, getting the message out that it was safe to travel.

“After that, business soared. Our business went through the roof. It has been better than the previous four years before the pandemic. We continue to set records,” Garton gushes.

Adam Anderson of Vibe Getaways out of Bristol in Wisconsin had been in the wedding industry for about 20 years before incorporating travel during the last 11 years, which was how he started selling Sandals exclusively in the Caribbean, he says.

“It made sense because people get married, they start families, travel to Beaches resorts, and then want romantic getaways,” he explains, adding that 2024 will be one of the best years for travel.

“We’re finding that group travel is a thing; it’s more fun travelling in groups. Fortunately, we just kept selling — even during the pandemic — and after, the people just came in droves. We had guests in resorts the first day it opened.”

Addison Jaynes operates his Reliant Destinations out of Dallas, Texas, and Montego Bay, Jamaica, where his main office has been located since 2017. Previously, he operated travel agencies in the United Kingdom before launching Reliant Destinations in the United States, selling Sandals and Beaches resorts exclusively.

“During the pandemic a lot of doors were closing and many agencies went bankrupt. We realised that most companies were only booking online so we stepped up our marketing in order to provide personalised guidance on destination requirements in real time,” says Jaynes.

“We launched a YouTube channel, Mr. TravelLux, which became the largest independent Sandals YouTube site – drawing three million views a year,” he recounts.

He had high praises for the Jamaican staff, and notes that having an office in Montego Bay was advantageous in responding in real time to queries about negative press and other challenges concerning the island.

That has worked well for Reliant Destinations, evidenced by the fact that already this year they had booked 1,000 guests compared with 1,700 passengers in all of 2023. Jamaica represents 70 per cent of the company’s Caribbean business.

For Dan Bagby the sky is the limit, as suggested by the company he works for, 58 Stars, which has to do with the 58 stars by which people did navigation before the discovery of the compass. He joined the company in 2019, one of many independent travel advisors scattered across the US. That was two years before the pandemic.

“The Caribbean was one of the first places in the world to reopen to travel. We decided to focus 95 per cent of our business on Sandals because the brand was very strong. They delivered the level of service that guests wanted, and had built up a reputation of trust over the years.

“The variety of resorts across several of the Caribbean islands made Sandals attractive to many of our clients,” says Bagby, adding that 58 Stars is one of the fastest-growing agencies in Washington.