Caribbean Travel Forum: A Space for In-Depth Analysis

The Sandals Royal Barbados Hotel hosted this morning the second edition of the Caribbean Travel Forum, the event organized by the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) that serves as a prelude to the Caribbean Travel Marketplace. Under the theme "Tourism: the key driver of generational wealth for Caribbean citizens," the region's tourism industry gathered to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing the sector today. 

"The state of the Caribbean industry is fantastic," began Nicola Madden-Greig, president of the CHTA, in her diagnosis of the state of the region's tourism industry. Just a few months after praising the state of tourism at last year's Caribbean Travel Marketplace - held in October 2022 in Puerto Rico - Madden-Greig once again vindicated with figures the resilience of the sector, practically reaching or even surpassing the pre-pandemic data. 

However, it was also important to recall the multiple difficulties that the region continues to face in terms of tourism, mainly the deterioration of air connectivity between Caribbean countries, the rising costs of travel or environmental alarm, aspects that affect several of the Caribbean countries. "This event is about ensuring that all Caribbean countries grow. We are more than capable of overcoming these obstacles," Madden-Greig said. 

Taking over from the president was the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley, who focused her speech on the need for Caribbean countries themselves to take the reins of their industry. "We have shared interests in investing and betting on the region.

Historically, the tourism industry has been managed by external agents. And is this enough to take us forward? We need to focus more on the sector that has most improved the lives of people, not only in the Caribbean but also in the world. The sector that has allowed us to lift people out of poverty. Every country has the capacity to control its domestic market, and should not depend on other external agents," he said. 

Public-private collaboration, environmental sustainability and technology

The agenda of this Caribbean Travel Forum was completed with three presentations, each one dedicated to a specific aspect of the tourism industry. The first one brought together ministers of tourism from several Caribbean countries. 

Thus, the Minister of Tourism of Jamaica, Edmund Bartlett, the Minister of Tourism and Transport of the Cayman Islands and President of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), Kenneth Bryan, the Minister of Tourism of Barbados, Ian Gooding-Edghill, the President of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA), Renée Coppin, and Marc Melville, CEO of Chukka Caribbean, an adventure activities operator in the Caribbean, reflected on the relevance of this public-private cooperation in recovering the industry's pre-pandemic data, as well as other issues such as the inclusion of the local population in the sector and the promotion of sustainable initiatives. 

Likewise, the following two panels of the forum addressed aspects such as the climate emergency itself, or the challenge of the application of new technologies in the industry - mainly oriented to the risks and opportunities of Artificial Intelligence. 

Finally, the CHTA Awards 2023 were in charge of closing the second edition of the Caribbean Travel Forum, with the recognition of outstanding figures of the Caribbean tourism industry through the Caribbean Hospitality Icons Awards - three great figures of the industry were honored: Gordon "Butch" Stewart, George Myers and Sir Royston Hopkin - as well as the most resilient destinations - Eleuthera (Bahamas) and Jamaica -. In addition, the Award for Excellence in Caribbean Tourism went to Edmund Barlett, Jamaica's Minister of Tourism.