The event is the first of its kind for the CTO and aims to explore the opportunities available for the Caribbean region and its partners within the market, as well as develop a strategy to grow business in the MICE sector.

The recent announcement of a change in diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States is a welcome opportunity to increase tourist arrivals to the Caribbean. The US is the region's largest source market, producing nearly half of our tourism business.

Chairman of the Barbados-based Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), Richard Sealy, who is also Barbados Tourism Minister, says research has shown that the Caribbean is moving in the right direction as it relates to cruise visits, long-stay arrivals and tourism spend.

If the Caribbean tourism industry is not prepared to cater to visitors in this new digital age, they will lose business to destinations capable of doing so. This assertion was made by the Hon. Orville London, Chief Secretary in the Tobago House of Assembly, during the opening ceremony of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO)’s 7th Tourism Human Resources Conference in Tobago.

Chairman of the Barbados-based Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), Richard Sealy in a message marking Caribbean Tourism Month in November, said the statistics provided by the CTO’s research department show that arrivals to the Caribbean are up for the first half of this year.