The United States Postal Service (USPS) has agreed to partner with the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) to make applying for a U.S. passport at CTO-organized events quick and convenient. CTO has taken this necessary leadership role in approaching the USPS to establish a partnership to ensure that prospective Caribbean vacationers are not left stranded because they do not possess the required documentation to travel to paradise starting in January 2007.

The Caribbean travel industry has been advised to protect the region´s character while developing its tourism potential. Todd Sotkiewicz, general manager of the Americas for the travel guidebooks publisher, Lonely Planet, said there must be a balance between tourism development and the protection of the environment.

Public sector agencies in CARIFORUM, involved in tourism planning and development, discussed the development of tourism standards and guidelines at a three-day workshop on sustainable tourism policy development in St. Lucia last week. The workshop also explored issues related to trade in tourism services, environmental management, and product development. This Regional Sustainable Tourism Policy Development and Intersectoral Planning Workshop was the second of two being organized by the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), as part of an eight-million-euro Caribbean Regional Sustainable Tourism Development Program (CRSTDP), funded by the European Union.

A new balanced approach to strategic management will be the subject of a Master Class at the second Annual Tourism Human Resource Conference organized by the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), in collaboration with Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) in the Dominican Republic from May 24 to 26. The Master Class entitled, Building and Implementing a Balanced Scorecard Strategic Management System, is a two-and-a-half hour course which will introduce conference participants to the balance scorecard management system designed to help organizations develop a clear vision and strategy that deliver continuous improved strategic performance and results.

The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) is teaming up with the region´s disaster response body, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) for a special disaster mitigation exercise at the 8th Annual Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development (STC-8) in Puerto Rico. The entire first day of the conference will be dedicated to disaster management and preparedness, with CDERA leading the discussion in these areas of critical concern to the region´s tourism industry, the two organizations announced today.

Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the man often credited as the pioneer who changed the European aviation scene, will deliver the keynote address to mark the tenth anniversary of the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Investment Conference (CHTIC) 2006. The two-day meeting will be held from April 4 to 6, 2006, at the Fairmont Southampton Hotel, in Bermuda, presented by the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA), in conjunction with the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), and Burba Hotel Network (BHN).