Archive for March, 2024

CTO to Spotlight the Caribbean at Routes Americas 2024 in Bogotá

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (March 13, 2024) – The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) is poised to positively impact the Routes Americas in Bogotá, Colombia, next week. This premier air service development forum uniting the Americas brings together senior decision-makers from the region’s leading airlines, airports and other tourism and aviation stakeholders.

The CTO delegation, led by Secretary-General and CEO Dona Regis-Prosper and Faye Gill, Director of Membership Services, will attend at the CORFERIAS business and exhibition center from March 19 to 21, 2024.

“In an era where connectivity is the driving force behind recovery and progress, our participation in Routes Americas is a significant step for the Caribbean. It’s a platform that allows us to amplify our presence and forge essential partnerships within the global aviation ecosystem,” emphasized Regis-Prosper. “This is a part and parcel of our continued commitment to enhancing the region’s visibility and fostering meaningful interactions that pave the way for more connections to and within the Caribbean.”

In anticipation of Routes Americas, CTO, in collaboration with Airport Strategy & Marketing (ASM), recently hosted a groundbreaking two-day training event in Barbados on airline route development titled “Aviation Marketing, Incentives & Negotiation”. According to Regis-Prosper, this initiative signifies a crucial step in the organization’s strategy to enhance air access to and from the Caribbean.

Throughout next week’s three-day event in South America, delegates will engage in an immersive program featuring face-to-face meetings, networking opportunities, and access to exclusive industry insights.

A highlight of the event is the Caribbean-focused panel discussion “Aviation Competitiveness in the Caribbean”, scheduled for Tuesday, March 19, from 2:35 pm to 3:20 pm. Panelists include Kenneth Romer (Deputy Director General, The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investments and Aviation); Trevor Sadler (CEO, interCaribbean Airways); Hans van de Velde (CEO, Windward Islands Airways International – WINAIR); Rafael Echevarne (Director General Latin America & Caribbean, Airports Council International – ACI); and Peter Cerdá (Regional Vice President, The Americas, IATA), with David Appleby (Director, ASM) moderating.

This session will explore the competitive landscape of the Caribbean aviation sector, highlighting efforts to boost air connectivity within the region and to emerging markets in South America and Europe. Despite challenges of several destinations recovering to pre-2019 levels of flight frequencies and seat availability, the discussion promises to uncover strategic approaches toward financial and traffic resurgence and explore new growth avenues in the aviation sector.

During the conference, the CTO team will meet with its members and airline partners. The CTO’s Caribbean-themed booth will be located at Stand S24.

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International Women’s Day Message by Dona Regis-Prosper, Secretary-General, CTO

Women’s leadership in the tourism industry is not just about representation; it’s about leveraging and benefiting from diverse perspectives. As we know, diversity builds strength and reinforces sustainability. So, women in leadership is an essential element for any organization seeking to thrive and flourish.

Traditionally, the Caribbean has seen remarkable contributions from women throughout the tourism landscape. Even before more women ascended to higher offices in the tourism sector, they exercised enormous influence on the development of the visitor industry with their valuable, often unrecognized, contributions to the development of modern Caribbean tourism.

Tourism is about people and their wants and needs – areas where women’s sensitivity and experience were often undervalued when compared to the more traditional corporate approaches of the sector’s policy and decision makers. Today women are taking their rightful places at the top tables of our region’s major bread-earner with many destination tourism authorities and ministries now led by women.

But there’s still much to do to ensure women are empowered to lead and innovate. Recognizing and nurturing female talent, providing mentorship, and ensuring equal opportunities are essential steps toward a more inclusive and dynamic tourism sector. Empowering women to become entrepreneurs within the tourism space is a pivotal stride towards enriching the industry with innovative ideas and diverse business models, ensuring a broader spectrum of opportunities and experiences for tourists and stakeholders alike.

I am personally committed to supporting and advocating for women’s leadership and advancement within our vibrant industry. We cannot advance meaningfully without the solid contributions of women.

We also want to do more to leverage our Caribbean Tourism Youth Congress program to cultivate the next generation of women and youth leaders. The talent pool in the Caribbean is so impressive, and we stand to benefit by nurturing and valuing these resources.

There is so much we can do to embrace initiatives that create an inclusive and supportive professional environment for women at all stages of their careers. Setting up a recruitment platform exclusively to attract and train women for higher responsibility or designing mentorship and training programs for women who are returning from maternity breaks or resuming their corporate careers after taking a break are two such examples we ought to explore.

It’s our Day, ladies, so let’s come up with bold ideas and projects which can take shape and be implemented by the next time we celebrate International Women’s Day!

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