Cooperation talks on the agenda for regional tourism heads next week

ST THOMAS, United States Virgin Islands, Thursday March 22, 2012 – Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) Chairman Senator Ricky Skerritt will deliver a high-level message of cooperation to tourism leaders across the region next Monday, March 26.

Travel and tourism stakeholders from the wider Caribbean diaspora have been invited by the United States Virgin Islands (USVI) Department of Tourism to discuss the critical importance of regional tourism.

Skerritt and Hugh Riley, the CTO's secretary general, will visit St. Thomas for high level meetings with Governor John P. deJongh, Tourism Commissioner Beverly Nicholson-Doty and local hotelier Richard Doumeng, President-elect of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA).

The USVI Department of Tourism will host a breakfast presentation for industry stakeholders and the general public, featuring Skerritt, who is also the St Kitts and Nevis Minister of Tourism and International Transport.

Skerritt, a former manager of the West Indies cricket team, will address the theme "There's Never Been a More Crucial Time in Caribbean Tourism" at the Marriott Frenchman's Reef and Morning Star Resort.

Commissioner Nicholson-Doty sent the message: "A rising tide floats all boats and it is important that we are all on board with our regional partners," as she encouraged USVI stakeholders to broaden their vision of promoting tourism to the Caribbean region.  

Promoting the importance of cooperation in the Caribbean's most important industry, she contended true competition comes from "outside the region, not within."

The high-level talks come on the heels of the Department's Strategic Visioning Retreat this week, one of the steps in developing a rolling five-year tourism development plan.

"There will be a hive of intellectual activity throughout the territory over the next two weeks," said Nicholson-Doty. She expects this will be generated in part by the regional and international tourism experts - from cruise line to romance market experts - currently in the territory for the retreat. Click here to receive free news bulletins via email from Caribbean360. (View sample)