SOTIC 2023 concludes with a press convention and wrap-up instantly following the Youth Congress proceedings.
PROVIDENCIALES, TURKS AND CAICOS – After a hiatus of 5 years, the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s (CTO) flagship occasion, the State of the Tourism Industry Conference (SOTIC) kicks off at this time at The Shore Club in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands.
Bringing collectively authorities and personal sector tourism leaders from its member nations beneath the theme “Invest. Innovate. Inspire – A New Model for Caribbean Tourism Growth”, SOTIC gives stakeholders a novel alternative to collaboratively study tourism funding and financing within the Caribbean.
Presiding over the convention for the primary time, Dona Regis-Prosper, Secretary-General and CEO of the intergovernmental physique, invited delegates to share their views on how greatest to invigorate the Caribbean tourism trade and set up environment friendly frameworks for affluent public-private partnerships through the two-day convention, which follows two days of vacation spot briefings for members of the media and enterprise conferences.
“Tourism Investment and Financing in the Caribbean” is the main focus for the displays and panels happening on Wednesday, October 11, whereas delegates will discover “Drivers for Caribbean Tourism Growth” as an overarching subject on Thursday, October 12.
Welcoming travel- and tourism-focused journalists from the Caribbean, Latin America, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom in addition to native media yesterday, Josephine Connolly, Minister of Tourism for the Turks and Caicos Islands, offered a complete overview of the archipelago’s tourism product, its tradition and historical past, and plans for sustainable growth of its lifeblood trade.
Following the Turks and Caicos presentation, invited media acquired vacation spot briefings and updates from tourism representatives of different CTO member international locations and territories in attendance, together with Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Martin, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Tobago.
Monday’s program additionally included a gathering of the CTO Executive Committee, whereas conferences of the CTO Board of Directors and the Council of Tourism Ministers and Commissioners befell on Tuesday.
Presentations and panel discussions at SOTIC will tackle matters corresponding to Sustainable Financing for Caribbean Tourism; Perspectives on Investment Trends, Partnerships and Maximizing Tourism Growth; Strategies for Positioning Caribbean Tourism for New Investment Opportunities; Sustainability: The New Tool within the Destination Marketing Mix; Aviation Competitiveness within the Caribbean; Digital Transformation in Tourism – a Roadmap for the Caribbean; Engaging the filmed leisure trade to advance Caribbean tourism: Opportunities and Challenges; and Stakeholders Speak Out on the Path Towards Tourism Growth within the context of the TCI Experience.
The convention agenda additionally features a recorded video message from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), and a keynote tackle, which might be delivered by Franz Rojas-Ortuste, Director of Water and Sanitation Analysis Division at CAF – Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean.
In addition to ministers and commissioners of tourism and different associated ministries; administrators and chief executives of tourism authorities, boards and vacation spot advertising and marketing organizations; and members of the media, SOTIC facilitates the participation of regional and worldwide representatives from funding entities, funding establishments, airways, cruise strains, lodging suppliers, property builders, and academia in significant discussions round main points impacting the event of the area’s tourism sector.
The CTO’s well-liked Caribbean Tourism Youth Congress, which invitations college students between the ages of 14 and 17 from CTO member international locations and territories to analysis numerous sides of the tourism sector and share their concepts and imaginative and prescient about future instructions for Caribbean tourism, takes place on Friday, October 13, at Beaches Turks and Caicos. Following the coed displays, one teenager might be named Regional Junior Minister of Tourism for 2023-2024, which incorporates service as a youth ambassador for his or her vacation spot and the area for one 12 months.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his duties embody enterprise growth and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term alternatives.