CTO TO CONVENE SPECIAL SESSION ON REGIONAL TRANSPORT

Bridgetown, August 21- In recognition of the high fares and inadequate access plaguing intra-regional travel, a special session on regional transportation will take place during the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) planned State of the Industry Conference in St Kitts in October.

According to a release by the CTO, tourism officials acknowledge that the problems in intra-regional travel has hindered development of the important regional tourism market and therefore the October 10 to 12 conference is expected to see some of the most creative minds in Caribbean and international tourism will come together to seek a solution to the challenges facing intra-regional transportation.

The session, “The Challenge of Regional Transportation – Where is the Solution?”, will not be limited to air transportation, but will also examine sea transportation as a means to connect some of the destinations.

“Regional travel is a focal point of concern for our member-countries. The volume of intra-regional visitors generated among our members annually is close to 1.5 million. But that number is decreasing and it a major concern to us,” said Hugh Riley, CTO’s secretary general. “Caribbean people are longing for a service that is convenient, reliable and affordable. There is a perception that it is often cheaper to travel from the Caribbean to the United States than from one Caribbean country to another. There’s something wrong with that. For this and other reasons the topic is of critical importance”.

The latest figures compiled by the CTO research division show that in 2011, nearly 1.5 million Caribbean nationals visited neighbouring regional destinations, a 3.2 per cent rise over 2010 when intra-regional travel resulted in just under 1.4 million arrivals. However, the 2011 figures were well below those of 2007 when there were 1,536,000 arrivals.

The session on regional transportation will take place from 3:00 to 5:00 pm on Thursday 11 October and will be moderated by Holly Hegeman, an experienced airline industry analyst and publisher of PlaneBusiness Banter, a weekly financial subscriber publication of the airline industry.

The State of the Industry Conference will be held at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort & Spa. The conference, which has as its theme, “Developing a Winning Tourism Strategy”, is organized by the CTO in collaboration with the St. Kitts Ministry of Tourism and the St. Kitts Tourism Authority. It is targeted toward ministers, commissioners and directors of tourism; hoteliers, tourism attractions, public officials and anyone with an interest in tourism.

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