The Minister of Tourism, accompanied by representatives from the Ministry of Tourism, the Turks and Caicos Tourist Board, the TCHTA, and the Junior Minister of Tourism will attend the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s (CTO) State of the Industry Conference from September 14-16 in Barbados.
CTO’s State of the Industry Conference is the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s annual convocation where Caribbean tourism practitioners, policy makers and strategic partners, at the highest levels, gather to discuss issues, identify solutions and generally develop courses of action that will benefit the tourism industry in the Caribbean.
Speakers of international acclaim will provide best case practices and winning strategies on a wide range of topics that are critical to the growth of regional tourism, all with a view toward the development of a sustainable tourism industry, that will position the Caribbean as the most desirable, year-round warm weather destination by 2017.
At this year’s conference, the Minister of Tourism, Hon. Porsha Stubbs-Smith will be presenting to the delegation on the topic: “Delivering the Luxury Experience”. This session examines how Caribbean destinations can re-craft their value propositions in the luxury travel market in order to deliver a luxury experience and cash in on this rapidly growing segment.
Concurrently, the Junior Minister of Tourism, Ms. Kayanna Gibson aims to deliver a stellar performance in hopes of achieving overall victory at the annual Caribbean Tourism Youth Congress scheduled for Day 4 of the 5-Day conference.
A staple on CTO’s program, the Caribbean Tourism Youth Congress features the “National Junior Ministers of Tourism” comprising of students between the ages of 1417 from several CTO member countries.
The Caribbean Tourism Youth Congress is structured to mirror a CTO Board of Directors’ Meeting with an agenda and topics on salient tourism issues which participants have to research beforehand. The Junior Ministers must come prepared to discuss one topic, sharing their vision for the future direction of regional tourism. A “mystery” question will also be asked and each student will be expected to give a response.
Delegates should expect a thought-provoking and spirited exchange of views among future leaders of the Region as the young debaters vie for important prizes and the chance to be a youth ambassador for tourism.
The Caribbean Youth Congress is one of the vehicles through which CTO encourages the best and brightest young minds from the region to consider tourism as a career.
The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), with headquarters in Barbados and offices in New York and London, is the Caribbean’s tourism development agency comprising membership of 28 countries and territories including Dutch, English, French and Spanish, as well as a myriad of private sector allied members.
The organization provides specialized support and technical assistance in sustainable tourism development, marketing, communications, advocacy, human resource development, event planning & execution and research & information technology.
For more information, kindly visit: http://sotic.onecaribbean.org/
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