Strong caribbean presence at ITB

The Caribbean was prominently featured at one of the world’s leading travel exhibitions, the International Tourism Exchange ITB Berlin 2003 which took place in the German city of Berlin from March 7-11, 2003.

Twenty-eight (28) of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO)’s 32 member countries are among the 181 countries and territories participating in the event. As it has done every year since 1980, CTO will coordinate a Caribbean Village at the Berlin Exhibition Ground, site of the tourism trade fair.

“CTO fulfills an extremely important role through the Caribbean Village by providing an opportunity for our membership in both the public and private sectors, many of whom could not otherwise do it on their own, to exhibit their products and to deal with some very significant business matters,” said Jean Holder, CTO’s secretary general.

In addition to the Caribbean Village, CTO will host the 4th Caribbean Forum where Mr. Holder, Arley Sobers, CTO’s director of research and information management, Jo Spalburg, CTO’s deputy director of marketing in Europe and Phillippe Boucard, chairman of AG Karibik will address a range of issues relating to Caribbean tourism. They will also launch this year’s marketing programme in Germany. AG Karibik is CTO’s Central European Chapter and is collaborating with CTO to host the forum.

“The forum will present yet another opportunity for the Caribbean to make further inroads into the important German and European markets and to send a clear signal to the entire tourism world that the region remains the best option for a relaxed and enjoyable vacation,” added Mr. Holder.

Indicators for 2003 suggest that while bookings from Europe for the winter season are better than in 2002, they are still below expected levels. The major Caribbean destinations for European visitors – Barbados, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica - all registered declines in arrivals from this market in 2002. However, some other destinations, Antigua and Barbuda, Bermuda, and the Turks and Caicos Islands recorded increased arrivals ranging from 2.1 percent to 15.8 percent in European visitors.