CMEx Focused on the Impact of Tourism on Caribbean Economy

25 June 2004 6:00am

The sixth Caribbean Media Exchange Conference on Sustainable Tourism (CMEx VI), is successfully taking place in Rodney Bay Village, June 24-28, featuring a high level participants who examining the impact of travel and tourism on Caribbean jobs and the economy.

CMEx VI is considering tourism´s economic impact; the potential for unique tourism linkages; the use of renewable energy; issues of governance; Caribbean investment; tourism partnerships and the future of tourism. The impact of HIV/AIDS on sustainable tourism is again on the table and the future of tourism is, for the first time at CMEx, seen through the eyes of the youth.

The meeting also seeks to increase the input of the media in the design of sustainable tourism policies, and highlight the necessity of tourism to the economies of small island states.

The impact of technology on the trade was also among the key topics discussed, and the need to utilize available technology in tourism planning was underscored. The need for collaboration within the sector to discourage increasing competition was also highlighted.

Despite some divide on contentious issues, participants were single-minded in the view that, tourism remained, in some instances, the only means to stimulate regional growth and as a consequence should be placed on the top of the region´s political agenda. In keeping with plans for the proposed CARICOM Single Market and Economy, tourism leaders also made a call for the Caribbean to be marketed as a single destination with a single image.

Director-General and CEO of the Caribbean Hotel Association, Alec Sanguinetti and Executive Vice President of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), Richard Miller, delivered the opening speeches in which they bury the myth that travel and tourism only benefits a "few fat cats".

Also scheduled to address the St. Lucia conference is chairman of Air Jamaica and Sandals Resorts, Gordon "Butch" Stewart to report on how to unleash the potential of the industry, while delegates are expected to hear from St. Lucian Prime Minister, Dr. Kenny Anthony.

Lelei LeLaulu, president of Counterpart International – producers of the biannual conference, said he was pleased to see senior travel and tourism officials making it a priority to attend the regional exchange, which the non-profit development agency launched partly to improve the quality of media coverage of sustainable tourism in the Caribbean.