Following the success of EIBTM 2007, a record number of exhibitors have rebooked their stands for this year’s event in Barcelona at the Fira Gran Via from 2nd-4th December 2008.

Film Life, Inc. announced the 2008 dates of the 4th Annual Turks & Caicos International Film Festival (TCIFF). The festival will be held Oct. 15, through Oct. 19 on Providenciales.

Aruba announced the final lineup for the Eighth Annual Soul Beach Music Festival, with Erykah Badu, Sinbad, Wyclef Jean and Sean Kingston (among others) performing. The festivities kick off this Memorial Day weekend, May 21-26.

The Caribbean region must adopt aggressive local and regional environmental policies in order to protect itself from the potential impact of climate change on coastal tourism, an international expert on sustainable development and climate change has warned. However, decision makers must first get a grasp of the region’s vulnerabilities and ability to adapt in order to develop appropriate policies, Dr. Murray Simpson, senior research associate for Oxford University Center for the Environment, has suggested.

Nearly 100 Canadian and Caribbean government, healthcare and business leaders met last week to discuss how Caribbean medical tourism can be developed to serve North Americans’ healthcare and vacation needs. Held in Bridgetown, Barbados, the “Caribbean Health & Wellness Tourism” meeting was sponsored by Caribbean Export and Trade Facilitation Office Canada.

The 17th Annual St. Lucia Jazz Festival, one of the Caribbean’s premier musical attractions, set for May 2 to 11, has already started its countdown on top cable networks BET and BET J.