Sustainable tourism through diversity will be the central focus of the 7th Annual Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development, also known as the Sustainable Tourism Conference (STC-7), to be held in Trinidad and Tobago in April.

Belize´s Minister of Tourism, Godfrey Smith, recently met with 8 delegates of the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA), in an effort to continue fostering an understanding of the cruise industry and its operating practices and to seek its further growth and development. The 8- member delegation of the FCCA comprises of representatives from Carnival Cruise Lines, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean International and the President of the FCCA.

The European Commission has allocated eight million euros to fund their sustainable tourism development program. Of those eight million euros, 3.374 million euros have been allocated to the Caribbean Tourisms Organization to implement some of those programs. This amount is broken down into four major projects.

The New York Travel Writers Association (NTWA), a prestigious grouping devoted to pure, full time travel writers in the Big Apple, has consented to allow the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), in collaboration with the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA), a rare opportunity to host their luncheon on Tuesday, February 8th, 2005. During the gathering, Karen Ford-Warner, CTO´s acting secretary general, and Berthia Parle, president of CHA, will update the travel writers on developments in the Caribbean tourism industry, including how the region is doing and booking trends for 2005.

MARCH 4 – 6 THE NEW YORK TIMES TRAVEL SHOW New York, NY 11-15 ITB Berlin, Germany 13-17 VIRTUOSO ANNUAL OVERSEAS SYMPOSIUM Crystal Symphony Cruise APRIL 7-10 ASTA & NACTA’s CRUISEFEST 2005 Miami, FL 21-24 TRAVEL & LEISURE SHOW, CANADA TBA 26-29 7th ANNUAL CARIBBEAN CONFERENCE ON SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT Tobago UNDERWATER CANADA TRADE SHOW Toronto, Canada

Caribbean nationals wishing to study tourism or hospitality can receive scholarships of up to US$12,000 from the Caribbean Tourism Organization Foundation. The Foundation has begun accepting applications for 2005 scholarships and study grants from Caribbean nationals in CTO member countries.