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First ever Tourism Summit begins today
Junior Minister for Culture and Tourism Hon Luce D. Hodge-Smith (R4) told Acting Director of Communications Mrs Karia J. Christopher in an interview leading up to the summit, “We are excited about this Tourism Summit…that is the first one and I hope that it won’t be our last and I hope that at some point there will be another and another and it becomes an annual event.”
The summit, she revealed, is booked to capacity with 160 people registered to attend in person due to space constraints.
“I understand that we have an overflow and we will try our best to accommodate those maybe not physically but virtually they will be a part of [it],” she said.
Hon Hodge-Smith added that the goal of the Tourism Summit is to work on an exclusive National Tourism Policy underpinned by economic growth, and diversification, protection of the environment and VI cultural heritage and a people-centered culture of excellence in hospitality and service.
“Basically what we tried to do is cover all areas in our tourism industry while including culture and hospitality because they are key aspects of the VI’s tourism product,” the Junior Minister explained.
Agenda
Hon Hodge-Smith said while there will be presentations by guest speakers the summit will be interactive, as a panel discussion will follow the presentations and an interactive session where those in attendance will break off into groups.
“So it’s a very, very interactive summit. It’s not just for us to be speaking to you and you don’t get an opportunity to say your [piece],” she told Mrs Christopher.
Day one of the Tourism Summit will begin with an Opening Ceremony featuring a keynote address from Premier and Minister of Finance Dr the Hon Natalio D. Wheatley (R7).
Presentations on the opening day will be done by the Secretary General of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) Mrs Dona Regis-Propser, and Mr Vincent V. Wallace, former CTO Director and former Bahamas Tourist Board Director
On day two, the summit will begin with a virtual presentation by the Director of the Cayman Tourism Department, followed by an in-person presentation by a representative of the Tourist Board’s Marketing Agency.
Hon Hodge-Smith said, “Things are changing, the demographics are changing, so we’re going to have to find new ways to attract these persons that are different.”
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7 Responses to “First ever Tourism Summit begins today”
Waste of &^%$ time!! We waste money bringing the heads of other tourism destinations where they have their sh** together and for what? we have no clue what we want, the place looks and smells like *&^% sh**, but let's spend thousands of dollars at Peter Island so people can eat, listen to themselves talk sh** and accomplish ZERO with this 2 day pile of sh**. It's amazing how we find money for grandstanding but not for the important things. No Tourism Master Plan for the Territory but let's have a Summit.