"Caribbean Jim" Hobbs
If you don’t already know about him, well now you do, it’s Caribbean Jim Hobbs
Jim Hobbs was born and raised in Indianapolis, more than 700 miles from the nearest beach. After graduating from Indiana University and spending three less-than-exciting years in public accounting, Jim took his first trip to the Caribbean in 1997 and fell in love with the island life. He set out on a path that led to his current role as “Caribbean Jim,” a leading expert on affordable beach travel, and founder of CheapCaribbean.com, the largest online provider of beach vacations to the Caribbean and Mexico.
Caribbean Jim now has the enviable job of spending much of the year traveling throughout the Caribbean and Mexico in search of the best island vacations, and then sharing what he learns with travel consumers. Whether it’s giving advice on how to find the best package deals or explaining the benefits of weather protection plans, Caribbean Jim is Tweeting it, blogging it, and emailing it to those who need to know.
Jim launched CheapCaribbean.com in 2000, with a goal of helping customers find affordable travel to the islands. He purchased the URL for $9.99 and a website-building template for $14, and for the first 18 months his laptop and cell phone were the reservation system. As the business took off, he moved to the company’s current location in Doylestown, PA and began hiring family and friends to meet growing demand.
From 25 employees in 2005, CheapCaribbean.com has grown to 120 employees serving more than 250,000 customers a year and is now the largest website dedicated to travel to the Caribbean and Mexico. Even with this growth, the company still maintains its focus on providing exceptional, personalized service, and its reservations agents, who all work out of the Doylestown office, are known for treating each individual customer as a member of the extended “family”.
With a mission to provide luxury vacation packages and resort accommodations at unbeatable prices and with incredible customer service, CheapCaribbean.com offers unique technology such as CheapFinder, which assures consumers receive the best price for a vacation package and searches around selected travel dates for the most affordable time to travel. The company also includes Weather Protection Insurance and an SPF 100 Sunshine Protection Plan with every reservation, at no extra charge to the customer.
Check out their site here: Caribbean Jim Hobbs
