Saint Lucia to chair CTO

Saint Lucia’s Tourism Minister Dominic Fedee will chair the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) for a two-year term, following an election held ahead of the official opening of the State of the Tourism Industry Conference (SOTIC).

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Following his election Mr. Fedee said he was humbled and proud that his colleagues had placed their trust in him. The new chairman also stated: “We have an opportunity to advance the strength of our collective purpose. We must spare no effort to use our collaboration at the CTO level to help to advance the wider integration movement and the CTO can be seen in the same ilk as West Indies cricket and the University of the West Indies as success stories to unite the Caribbean further.

“The Caribbean is one of the strongest and one of the most iconic and aspirational travel brands in the world but also it is the most underutilized and the opportunity exists for us to ensure that we utilize the strength of the brand for the collective good of the destinations of the Caribbean.”

The Saint Lucian minister has named Tiffany Howard, the acting chief executive officer of the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, as chairman of the CTO board of directors; according to the CTO constitution, the board chairman and the chairman of the Council of Ministers and Commissioners of Tourism must come from the same member country.

In addition to the election of the chairman, vice chairs were elected to serve on the executive committee of the board of directors to represent various sub-groups - Curacao, representing the Dutch Caribbean; Haiti representing the French Caribbean; Bahamas and Jamaica, representing the independent Caribbean Community countries and the Cayman Islands representing the British Overseas Territories. This committee will be completed with representatives from the private sector.