Thirteen teams of Caribbean chefs, pastry chefs and bartenders put the spotlight on Caribbean cuisine and tourism in three days of live professional competitions before an audience of more than 1,100 at the Caribbean Hotel Industry Conference, CHIC 2005, held at the Hyatt Regency in Miami, Florida two weeks ago. The Franco-Dutch island of St Maarten and St Martin dominated the National Teams Category with a Gold Medal performance and the highest scores overall which earned them honors as Caribbean Culinary Team of the Year 2005.

Meeting planners can now book their next event at Hilton Caribbean´s all new property in Barbados and soon to open hotel in Santo Domingo. Both Hilton Barbados and Hilton Santo Domingo feature a Hilton Meetings complex complete with boardrooms, flexible meeting rooms, PC workstations and fully equipped business centers, as well as ample, adaptable conference space.

The International Institute for Peace Through Tourism (IIPT) has secured the commitment of 25 organizations as supporters of the Third Global Summit on Peace Through Tourism. The conference is planned for Oct. 2 to 5 at the Royal Cliff Beach Resort and Conference Center in Pattaya, Thailand.

The Cancun Travel Mart, sponsored each year by the Cancun Hotel Association, will take place on October 19 to 21 at the Gran Meliá Resort & Convention Center in that gorgeous Mexican destination. The two-day event will gather buyers and suppliers of travel products for the Cancun and Mexican Caribbean Region in prescheduled appointments and business sessions.

Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza represented the Organization of American States at the opening ceremony Sunday of the Twenty-Sixth Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), in St Lucia. The OAS Secretary General came to the Caribbean leaders´ gathering at the invitation of CARICOM Secretary-General Edwin Carrington. The summit came to a close Tuesday.

Myanmar´s authorities have decided to host its first Tourism Forum of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in mid January next year. The nine-day forum, scheduled to take place from January 13 to 21, would provide valuable opportunities to promote the country´s tourism industry, a deputy head of the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism was quoted by the Myanmar Times as saying.