The Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association will hold its annual conference and trade show Oct. 26 to 30 on St. Lucia. More than 1,000 cruise industry partners will come together with 100 cruise executives from the FCCA-member lines to share ideas and discuss industry trends.

Barbados unveiled its 2009 Calendar of Festivals & Events which features music, performing arts, film and culinary festivals, as well as surfing, polo, cricket, domino, golf and horse racing tournaments throughout the year.

The sixth annual New York Times Travel Show at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City starts off today and runs through Sunday, February 8. The Travel Show will feature nearly 500 exhibitors representing over 100 countries and will focus on travel destinations, packages and special offers, as well as tour operators, cruise lines and live entertainment for the whole family. For more information, visit http://www.nytimes.com/travelshow. American Express has signed on to be the presenting sponsor of The New York Times Travel Show through 2011. As a founding sponsor, American Express has participated in the show since its inception. This year, the Travel Show will move to the Main Hall, located on the south side of the Javits Center. The event will showcase the variety of travel and vacation opportunities for consumers of all types: those traveling solo, as a couple, without children or taking the whole family; those looking for budget vs. luxury trips; and those looking for relaxation and wellness trips or for adventure travel. The common thread will be the opportunity for consumers to book any type of vacation during the show taking advantage of all the special on-site promotions that provide the most value for their travel investment. Travel experts including Rick Steves, Arthur and Pauline Frommer, Stephanie Abrams and experts from the Travel Channel will take questions and offer tips in on-site seminars. Among the pavilions for specialty travel are: Adventure Travel, Luxury and Spa Travel and Cruise Travel.

For the past 26 years, Tobago’s regatta has garnered the attention of serious racers and fun-seeking sailors from around the world. Known to many as the “friendliest regatta” in the Caribbean, Tobago’s Carnival Regatta, dubbed A Festival of Wind, will take center stage from February 10 thru 14, 2009.

With record breaking attendance and more than $100 billion in investment in the Caribbean announced at the 2008 convention, the 13th Annual Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Investment Conference (CHTIC) seeks to build on this momentum and broaden the investment interest in the region.

Some significant anniversaries are being celebrated in the Youth Travel sector at ITB Berlin: it is 20 years since the Berlin Wall fell, the Youth Travel Center is ten years old, and the YIG Germany pavilion has been in existence for five years.