The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) announced the winners of its third annual Travel Writer of the Year and Travel Photographer of the Year awards. Freelance journalist Christopher P. Baker won the North America Travel Writer of the Year award for various coverage of the Caribbean region, including articles in Caribbean Travel & Life and Robb Report, as well as a guide book and coffee table book on Cuba.

Designed to ensure that Cricket World Cup 2007 benefits all Caribbean Nations, a ministerial subcommittee on the issue was one of the key developments emerging from the ministerial caucus and board of directors that met at the 28th Caribbean Tourism Conference. Caribbean Tourism Organization´s Chairman Pamela Richards told the press at the Frenchman´s Reef & Morning Star Marriott Beach Resort, in St. Thomas, US Virgin Island last week, that former Secretary General Dr. Jean Holder will continue to represent the CTO Board of Directors with the specific mandate to ensure that the entire region´s economy benefits from the cricket event, at all levels of the nine host nations and beyond.

“Tourism is an economic development tool and we must broaden the traditional understanding of tourism and get our constituencies in the Caribbean to believe in its overall economic value to the people of the region,” said Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace, secretary general of the Caribbean Tourism Organization, in his opening address to the delegates of the 28th Caribbean Tourism Conference (CTC-28) that ended last week in the U.S. Virgin Islands. “Because the Caribbean is primarily a collection of countries, there is an intuitive appreciation of our rich diversity and an expectation that our diversity is likely to persist forever. For our external audiences it is this diversity that gives the Caribbean its intrigue and value,” Mr. Vanderpool-Wallace pointed out.

For the third year in a row, the crew of Island Temptations is being recognized on an international level with a prestigious journalism award. The Caribbean Tourism Organization´s Travel Writers Award is bestowed on journalists from print, radio, online, and television media for excellence in coverage and promotion of the Caribbean region. This year, Tina Causey-Escobedo´s story, “Romancing the Rum Shop Mystique,” from the Summer 2004 edition, received first place in the “Best Feature Article” category for the Caribbean.

The Caribbean is warming up for what promises to be one of the hottest winter seasons of all time, at least after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. and the tragic trail of back-to-back active hurricane seasons. “With year round warm temperatures and a wide range of accommodation from luxury hotels through to old plantation houses, visitors are guaranteed to find the perfect holiday combination,” said Julia Hendry, Director of Marketing for the CTO in the U.K. and Europe. “From horse riding in Jamaica to kite surfing in Antigua, a host of new and exciting adventure options have been introduced across the Caribbean this winter to cater for this increasing market sector.”

The travel and tourism sector will be challenged by adversity on a regular basis and the Caribbean tourism industry must be prepared to communicate effectively during and after a crisis, a leading media expert has advised. “Crises are inevitable and you have to be prepared. Crisis communication is preparing for the inevitable rather than reacting to the inevitable,” said Andria Hall, president of SpeakEasy M.E.D.I.A., Inc., a New Jersey, USA-based media and public presentation consulting firm specializing in life-changing workshops, media coaching and broadcast quality productions.