Inaugural Caribbean Travel Forum Underway Ahead of 40th Marketplace

Leading up to the 40th Caribbean Travel Marketplace, the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association is hosting the inaugural Caribbean Travel Forum to discuss a variety of hot topics related to the business of tourism in the Caribbean region.

“This will include representation from the World Travel & Tourism Council, Ministers of Tourism for countries such as Jamaica, St. Lucia and the Cayman Islands,” CHTA President Nicola Madden-Greig tells PressToday. “We will also have two panel discussions focusing on technology and sustainability.”

The event kicks off this morning at the Hilton Caribe in San Juan, Puerto Rico with a session on the importance of the travel and tourism industry as one of the world’s largest economic sectors. The panel will include industry trends, data and insights.

“We anticipate a robust series of solution-oriented discussions that will ensure that Caribbean tourism not only revives but thrives over the long-term,” she says.

The Caribbean Travel Forum is a new event with addressing topics like intra-Caribbean travel with focus on air connectivity and multi-destination marketing, sustainability, technology innovations, labour market constraints and taxation.

Jamaica’s minister of tourism Edmund Bartlett; Brad Dean, chief executive officer of Discover Puerto Rico; Ernest Hilaire, minister of tourism for St. Lucia, Adam Stewart, chairman of Sandals Resorts International and Kenneth Bryan, minister of tourism for the Cayman Islands and chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organization are just some of the featured speakers.

An awards presentation will also take place to recognize the Caribbean Hotelier of the Year and the inaugural Destination Resilience Award recipient.