Janet Silvera, Hospitality Jamaica Coordinator

PRELIMINARY ESTIMATES of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), reveals that visitor expenditures reached US$23 billion in 2005, stay-over visitors grew by 3.6 per cent to reach 22.5 million and cruise passenger visits declined by 2 per cent to 19.8 million.

As a result of these findings, chairman of CTO, the Hon. Pamela Richards predicts increasing visitor expenditure should easily keep pace with the 3.4 per cent year rate forecast by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) for the next 10 years, reaching the US$32 billion mark by 2015.

PHOTO BY JANET SILVERA President of the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) and chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation, Pamela Richards (CTO) (right) and Berthia Parle President of the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA), at the recently held Caribbean Tourism Conference (CTC-28).

In fact, the positive prospects for tourism have resulted in Commissioner Richards unveiling an ambitious agenda for the region's tourism. Two weeks ago in New York chairman Richards indicated that her organisation would keep with the theme "Tourism: the Business of the Caribbean", and will continue to focus on a much more business-like approach to tourism development for the next several years.

She said the organisation will be encouraging all of its members to proceed along the same lines.

In reference to the WTTC data, Commissioner Richards noted that the Caribbean is more dependent on tourism than any other region in the world, and in order for the region to extract the maximum benefits from tourism on behalf of its citizens; it has no choice but to take this approach.

MEMORANDUM OF COOPERATION & COORDINATION

In addition, CTO, in conjunction with its private sector partner, the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA), with whom it recently signed a Memorandum of Cooperation and Coordination, is in the final stages of establishing a Business Development Unit that is intended to raise funds to promote greater awareness of the Caribbean brand globally as well as deliver expanded services to the members of both organisations.

The chairman explained that the CTO in accordance with its new thrust will focus on seven areas, namely improving data collection, mining and management, expanded training and development opportunities, the development of a world class consumer site, development of a world class membership site that will focus on best practices, an expansion of public relations activities, expanded promotion of its consumer web pamela20051106JS address and commitment to private-public sector sustainable development and cooperation.

Progress on all of these new initiatives will be reviewed during the organisation's annual Caribbean Week, which is scheduled for New York during the week of June 11-17.

SEVEN AREAS OF FOCUS

The first of the seven areas of focus will come in the area of the development of data systems that will provide better intelligence for promotion and product improvement activities. Governments are finding that with better and timelier processing of Immigration card data from both incoming and departing visitors, patterns of opportunity and concern are highlighted much more easily.

CTO has already designed an Immigration card with a number of core questions. Training and development according to internationally recognised standards is the next area of focus.

Since more and more consumers are accessing information about the Caribbean from a website, it is imperative that the Caribbean website be of world-class quality. The creation of the site will be a joint CHA-CTO effort.

The final area of focus for the CTO will be private/public sector cooperation and coordination.