Dominican Native Janice Armour Receives CTO Special Recognition Award at Governments of the Caribbean State Ball

Ms. Janice Armour, a well respected native of Dominica, will be honored for her outstanding contributions, and for her dedication to Dominica by the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) during Caribbean Week in New York, next week, June 6-11, 2010. The Special Recognition Award will be presented to Ms. Armour at the 37th Annual Governments of the Caribbean State Ball and Awards Presentation at the New York Plaza Hotel on the evening of Friday, June 11.

Over the past forty years, Armour has devoted herself to the development of Dominica’s tourism product and marketing Dominica as an eco-tourism destination, locally, regionally and internationally. Eager to build on Dominica’s diverse natural attributes, Armour researched, promoted and developed numerous tourism related activities. She was among the first to offer services for tourists to experience the depth of Dominica’s product through Anchorage Safaris Tours, the island’s first inbound tour operator. Horseback riding, mountain biking, bird watching, sailing and scuba diving were some of the myriad activities that she introduced to tourists and accentuated as part of the tourism product mix.

A major highlight in Ms. Armour’s career was in 1972, when she and her husband opened Anchorage Hotel with 16 bedrooms, a restaurant and bar, a pool and a small pier. Years later, she negotiated with the Ross University School of Medicine to allow local Dominicans to provide student housing and in 1981 was the first company to offer accommodations in the Picard area to the University with the completion of 50 rooms at the Portsmouth Beach Hotel. As a result of her pioneering efforts, Armour was the first Dominican to build housing that would accommodate the total number of students of the Ross University School of Medicine.

Apart from these business ventures that helped to put Dominica on the tourism map, Armour found time to represent Dominica at many Caribbean Hotel Association meetings and events, as well as international trade fairs such as the World Travel Market (WTM) and International Tourism Bourse (ITB Berlin). Armour was appointed the tourism private sector spokesperson for Dominica.

The CTO Special Recognition Award honors people who have done an extraordinary job of positively promoting tourism to the Caribbean; whose work brings recognition to the region and whose dedication to the development of tourism for the benefit of the people of the Caribbean merits special recognition.

The CTO is an international agency responsible for the Caribbean’s tourism development. Caribbean Week in New York, which runs from June 6 – 11, 2010, is a key event on its program. During Caribbean Week in New York, some of the most influential policy makers, marketing professionals and tourism industry officials interact and discuss both tourism and investment opportunities in the region.

The week also serves to provide a taste of the Caribbean to inspire travel and showcase the region’s diversity to thousands of New Yorkers and visitors to New York who participate in a number of targeted events. The Governments of the Caribbean State Ball & Awards Presentation ends Caribbean Week in New York. It is a black tie fundraising gala to benefit the CTO Foundation which provides scholarships for Caribbean nationals pursuing studies in tourism related fields.

Known as “the Nature Island” and located between the French islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique in the Eastern Caribbean, the independent nation of Dominica (pronounced “dom-in-eek-a”) is the largest and most mountainous of the Windward Islands, encompassing an area of nearly 290 square miles. Of volcanic origins with mountains reaching heights of nearly 5,000 feet, rainforests that are considered among the last true oceanic rainforests in the world, more than 365 rivers, waterfalls the second largest Boiling Lake in the world and pristine coral reefs, Dominica’s natural diversity is truly unique.

Dominica is also home to the last remaining settlement of Indigenous People of the Caribbean – The Carib Indians. A place where man and nature live in harmony, adventurers and nature lovers alike will revel in the Island’s eco-tourism options which include scuba diving, snorkeling, mountain biking, kayaking, horseback riding, nature tours, hiking/trekking, whale, dolphin and bird watching, sailing and fishing.

Dominica continues to be recognized for its attributes and responsible tourism efforts, including being the first country in the world to receive Benchmarking designation from the prestigious eco-tourism organization Green Globe 21. National Geographic’s Center for Sustainable Destination ranked the island as the top sustainable island in the Caribbean and among the top ten in the world. Dominica was recognized by Islands Magazine and was included in its 2007 Blue List for being a leader in responsible tourism and ensuring an environmentally and culturally sound island for future generations. Travel + Leisure also announced Dominica as one of the most compelling destinations to visit in their 100 Greatest Trips 2008 edition.