Caribbean Woes Send Travel Advisors Searching for Plan B

For many travel advisors with Caribbean-bound clients, the tourist deaths in the Dominican Republic, political unrest in Puerto Rico, and the abrupt U.S. travel policy change to Cuba are putting their ingenuity to the test. When headlines make clients nervous or — in the case of Cuba — travel plans confront a roadblock, travel advisors must act quickly to find alternatives. While travel advisors are used to negative fallout from widely publicized incidents, this summer, with its string of disturbances, has been unusually challenging. As one advisor put it, "you are constantly putting out fires." In another story, we look at the significant growth of women-only tours, particularly those to destinations where women still lead a segregated existence. These trips not only promote exchanges between women from different cultures but are also opening up opportunities for women in the tour destinations to enter new careers and share their experiences. In the travel realm, as elsewher