St. Maarten Leads Drive for Increased Cruise Cooperation

Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation Harold Lovell will be addressing 120 delegates at the Caribbean Shipping Association’s seventh annual Caribbean Shipping Executives Conference to be held in St. Maarten later this month, from May 19 thru 21.

Various speakers are expected to address topics relating to trade development, trade blocs, trade pacts and treaties, incentives for development, finance and investment in the cruise industry and Caribbean Tourism.

This is the second time he was asked to make a presentation at the Caribbean Shipping Executives Conference. Lovell addressed the conference three years ago in Barbados.

President of the Antigua and Barbuda Cruise Tourism Association (ABCTA) Nathan Dundas told the Antigua Sun the conference is being held at a time when Lovell has been pushing for more inter regional cooperation on cruise matters.

In this regard, just last month, Dundas was appointed by Lovell to represent Antigua and Barbuda at an OECS Cruise meeting in Tortola where he was entrusted to present a feasibility paper regarding a study on improving the summer cruise market.

The Caribbean Shipping Association (CSA) was established in 1971 to facilitate development of an efficient, viable Caribbean shipping industry. Since then, the association has become a major regional forum in which matters relevant to the growth and development of Caribbean shipping are discussed.